Reincarnation
by Eternal L wyrm
Summary: "I want to be with her again" Roxas' wish had been granted, but not in the way he expected. How can he survive in this strange world? And who exactly is Sora?
1. Chapter 01: Wake up

_**R**__**einkarnation**_

**Hello! It's time for something completely random that's called our first story, this came to me with my fever, and so I'm writing it before I forget.**** The title this time is Danish.**

_We don't own Kingdom Hearts! Or else we would have made Axel less sympathetic and Xion would have survived! On with the story!_

_**01: Wake up**_

* * *

_Are you sure?_ The ominous voice spoke within Roxas' mind.

"I… I've no other reasons to be here, sir… It is my only wish, a-and you promised to grant a wish to the last person standing in this battlefield." The blond gulped, and looked around the barren wasteland that had become the Keyblade Graveyard. Everybody had lost either their hearts or bodies in a quest for power, but he only wanted one thing… that which was no longer obtainable.

_Very well then…_The blond began feeling dizzy, his sight blurring and his legs gave out under his own weight.

"_I suppose this is the best"_ he thought _"this way I can at least see her once again…"_

The last thing he saw before darkness overtook him was a speck of white and yellow.

* * *

"Oh! You're finally awake!" A soft female voice spoke, he tried to get up, only to be stopped by a small hand in his chest "You're way too weak, please wait a minute, I have some beverages for this." He could feel the smile on her face, and also her going away.

"Where am I?" He managed to get out, his voice raspy due to lack of use. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by white walls and a white dress near what he supposed was the kitchen.

"My… Our house, Roxas," The girl smiled at him "My name is Naminé," she pointed to herself and turned, revealing deep blue eyes and medium length blond hair "and I'm here as a guardian while you slept, and a guide once you wake up."

"Am I… dead?" He was given a green liquid. As he drank, his strength returned to him, and he could finally sit on the bed he was in. The room was quite plain; to be honest, aside from a small table with a chair and a lot of drawings, there was nothing but pure whiteness. It was… dull.

"No, you were merely asleep for a while," Naminé showed him one of the pictures, a blond boy, sleeping in a barred wasteland, with a girl looking over him "around 97 years; it was Kingdom Hearts' way of granting your wish."

"But that wasn't my wish! I wished to be with her again!" The boy shouted angrily, Naminé just looked down, and showed him the next picture: The girl transporting the boy, going from place to place, the final place had the word `reincarnation´ scribbled.

"And Kingdom Hearts has granted it. It chose to do it by letting you sleep, not age, until Xion was born once more. You woke up because we finally reached the correct place and time," Roxas stayed silent, thoroughly confused. "Kingdom Heats could not kill someone like you, a being incapable of asking for power. He decided to give you and Xion, a new life, a new chance to meet again."

"But she won't be Xion anymore… Just a girl who looks and acts like her"

"It's the same soul, the soul of your childhood friend, the person you care about the most. That's how it is. Without a doubt, you'll be friends again" Naminé had such a soft voice, both sisterly and motherly, that he didn't have the heart to argue. Reluctantly, he nodded, and was rewarded with a bright smile "Well then! We must prepare you for school! I have your papers in order, just go to the office and tell them you'll begin tomorrow!"

"Wait, what?" Roxas tried to decipher Naminé's blabber, and failed miserably, "School? Are we rich? What do you mean by `Office and Papers´? What exactly is going on?"

"Oh! I guess education has changed in the last century…" she realized "well, it's just 8:00; I think I can tell you what you need to know for today…"

* * *

And so, at 11:08 Roxas stood in front of the `Destiny High School´, a `public school´ for `every person who wished to learn´ according to Naminé. She had told him Xion was studying here, so it was a good idea to keep an eye if he were to meet her. After ten minutes of wandering around and finding no office, he caught a redhead looking discreetly at him from the `lockers´(if he remembered correctly). Her short hair and blue eyes were a lot like Xion's, he neared her and smiled.

"Hi, Can you please tell me where the main office is? I think I got lost," he smiled once more and the redhead blushed in embarrassment from being caught staring.

"Sure! I've got a free period so I can take you there otherwise I'll give you advice and sorry for staring at you by the way my name is Kairi!" She said without taking a breath. Roxas just blinked; did all the people in this world talk so much? The girl's cheeks became a darker shade of red in realization. "Sorry, I was just rambling, wasn't I? I just… find you kind of familiar, it makes me nervous…"

"Don't worry. What do you mean by `familiar´?" He asked curiously.

"You… look a lot like a friend of mine" she explained, "I thought he had bleached his hair to scare me or something."

"I see." Roxas sighed, so she wasn't Xion, well, at least he could take this girl out of the list.

"Well, let me take you to the office, Aerith will help you with those papers" she took him through some corridors and stopped at the only glass door in the school. Kairi made some signals to whoever was inside and a beep was heard. Roxas jumped backwards, startled, it earned him a weird look from the redhead as she opened the door. He blushed; Naminé hadn't warned him about the beep.

"Hello, you must be the new student. Your sister told me you were coming today," a brunette with a maternal voice said. Roxas nodded and gave him the papers Naminé had given him. Aerith took them and told him to wait a minute in a comfy sofa. Kairi sat beside him and began asking questions.

"So… Roxas, right? You live with your sister?"

"Yeah…"

"What about your parents?"

"Threw me out instead of my brother, must be dead by now." He said nonchalantly. It was true; his parents were poor and could only support one of them in the farm, the other one was to be some rich child's plaything, to at least have a decent life. Roxas, being closer to the age of the `young miss´ was chosen over Cloud, and he never saw them again. He came out of his memory to see Kairi with watery eyes and a hand over her mouth.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked," she choked a sob, but Roxas just looked at her confusedly.

"I don't see the problem, you were curious, that's all," didn't people do this all the time? Giving your children over to someone who could ensure their survival was proof that you cared about them. Or maybe that had changed too… he realized too late that the redhead was crying because of him "Maybe I wasn't clear enough!" he said quickly, moving his arms comically.

"What do you mean?" The redhead used a handkerchief to dry her eyes.

"I have a brother that's younger than me!" he said "My parents couldn't support all three of us, so Naminé and me had to go away to make sure Cloud could grow well, but we haven't heard from them in a long time! I didn't mean to make you cry!" he said desperately in an attempt to correct himself.

Kairi just stared, and stared, before a soft giggle made its way to her throat. Roxas sighed, relieved, he didn't have to deal with tears anymore.

"It's okay;" she smiled "I was the one who took what you said too seriously, I shouldn't—"

"Late, late, late, late, late, late, LATE!" they heard a shout becoming louder and louder, until a brunet with spiky hair came, the beep sounding in time to let him in. He huffed for a moment before turning to Aerith "Hey there… the usual?" he asked between breaths. The receptionist just smiled and gave him a piece of paper.

"What happened today, Sora?" Roxas heard Kairi, but couldn't bring himself to really care. This Sora guy was… familiar, but he didn't know why.

"Overslept, in free period, Vexen will kill me!" he explained, writing his name fast on the sheet of paper and turning towards the door, looking for no more than a second towards Roxas' direction.

That's where it all clicked. Those blue eyes he knew so well, deep and full of child-like wonder and happiness; that smile that shone by itself, as if to light up the darkness; and that goofy (but completely intentional) trip he saw thousands of other times that made the ones who did it adorably clumsy…

_Xion… is a boy?_

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**That's it fellas! If you find it in your heart, please re****view, I'd like to know what you think of this!**

There's no RikuxXion (pout) but I'll do my best to beta this one (even though it's my first beta work)! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 02: He's a boy

_**Rein**__**carnazione**_

**H****ello again, here comes the second chapter of Reincarnation (the title is Italian today) Thank you to ****Flightfoot,**** EnigmaEric, Shino159, ****chrisal and dragonfyresyren for reviewing. And to answer Flightfoot's question, yes, Xion was a girl in this before being reincarnated.**

_Light and I think gender is more about how you __see yourself than how you were born (and Xion in Days acted, talked and thought of herself as female, so to us, she is a girl). With that said, we move on to the story!_

**We don't own Kingdom Hearts****.**

_**0**__**2: He's a boy**_

"_Why didn't you tell me?" Roxas reclaimed angrily. After Aerith had given him his student ID and schedule, he had hurried__ back without even saying goodbye to Kairi. He'd have to apologize, eventually, but right now he was too pissed. "He is a boy! A. BOY! He's not Xion at all!" Naminé just looked down, ashamed._

"_I didn't know until we arrived here, but I didn't think it was such a problem…" her soft and self-loathing voice filled Roxas with guilt. It was as if he really was her brother, he felt hurt, worried and with the need to make her smile. He breathed slowly and did his best to calm down._

"_I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's not your fault, it's just…" he paused for a minute, trying to clear his mind "he's a boy…" he said lamely, there was no other reason for his shock._

"_I'm not sure I know why that is a problem…" Naminé admitted "Xion has been reborn, and you and she can be together again. Wasn't that your wish?"_

"_Yes, but… he's a boy…" Naminé just stared at him, not getting it "Xion was my best friend, but once I lost her, I realized how much I needed her. I… I love her. My wish was meant to either bring her back or kill me, to be with her again, and tell her how I felt. But that boy… is not Xion, he's…"_

"_A boy," Naminé finished, giggling at Roxas' flustered and nodding head "I see now. But, it doesn't matter whether he's a boy or not, he would never be Xion, just have the same soul."_

_Roxas nodded, sighing._

"_However, he's the same kind of person as Xion was… you could come to love him the same way you loved her."_

"_Naminé, I won't repeat it again: He. Is. A. Boy" he emphasized each word._

"_So?" Roxas opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it again. He couldn't find anything wrong with that._

"_I'm not ready now," he answered truthfully "I think I can try to befriend him… But I won't accept that __**boy**__ as Xion's reincarnation." Naminé sighed._

"_Got it…" the blonde relented._

* * *

Roxas sighed at the building in front of him, Kairi was the only person he knew in here, and he was pretty sure she was still mad at him for leaving so suddenly. He didn't feel like talking to Sora today either and he was pretty sure the silver head talking to the brunet in the entrance was glaring at him. In conclusion, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Why are you frowning at him like that?" Sora asked his best friend, looking discreetly at the blond, who seemed to be walking towards his own execution.

"He's the new kid, the one who left Kairi on the office." He continued glaring at him.

"So you're mad because Kairi bitched to you about it?" at Riku's nod, Sora let out a laugh. "C'mon Riku, he doesn't deserve it. And even if he hadn't left, Kairi would have blabbered for ages about all of the findings she made about him." He grinned.

"Even then, I will make his life hell…"

Sora sighed; this happened everytime Kairi gossiped about someone, Riku would hate on Him/Her, talk to that person for about 3 minutes, say _he/she's not so bad_ and forget it. Wash, rinse and repeat.

But before Riku could go towards the blond, the bell rang and they had to hurry inside. Sora had the bad luck of having his two best friends (or only one of them) in all his classes, but arriving so late the first days his chair was always too far away to talk to them. He realized he had been following Riku towards the only class they didn't share and ran past him, shouting something that barely sounded like a farewell and sprinting towards the other side of the school.

After running like a madman to prevent Ansem from punishing him (again), he reached the classroom, relieved to have arrived before the `evil´ history professor.

He saw the chair beside his occupied by the new kid. He smiled and sat down.

"Hey! I'm Sora, nice to meet you!" The brunet said happily. The blond just looked at him for a moment, and held a blank face the whole time.

"… Roxas," He said and turned back. Sora, on the other hand continued looking at him, even after Ansem had arrived and began taking list, he had just raised his hand absentmindedly. Roxas was incredibly familiar, a part inside of him (though he didn't know what part) stirred with happiness and… longing?

"Hey! Roxas!" He whispered a bit louder than he should to catch his attention after Ansem had begun his explanation on a war from about a hundred years ago he couldn't care less about, but was apparently everything Roxas was interested in. The blond just made a slight nodding motion to show him he had (part of) his attention "Have we met before?"

That… came out wrong, it sounded like a lame pick up line, and he sure as hell wasn't interested in the blond, regardless of his attractiveness… which he of course didn't notice! The blond, thankfully, didn't seem to notice as he shook his head.

"Have you been to Twilight Town?" He asked in a low but disinterested tone. As if he was just background sound he had to take notice of for a moment.

"Not really, but I—"

"Then no, I have never been out of TT until now." and just like that, he went back towards the lesson, ruining, without knowing, Sora's attempt for a conversation.

"Roxas," he tried again, and at the boy's nod he asked "Do you like history?"

"Not particularly," he said simply.

"Well what subjects do you like?" he pressed, he was going to talk to him, even if it killed him!

"Leonhart! Strife! Don't talk in my class" Ansem shouted and looked at Roxas "Maybe you should tell me something about this week's theme, seeing as you know it too well to pay attention." Roxas' face didn't even change as he stood up and went towards the blackboard.

"The Keyblade War was a conflict between two forces called the Unversed, led by Xehanort, and the Heartless, led by Maleficent. They both wanted to control the power of Darkness, and so fought with now extinct weapons named keyblades to seize control of seven maidens to, by a secret ritual, forge the ultimate weapon that could open Kingdom Hearts." He said as if he was an academic telling an anecdote, Ansem had wide eyes, and stayed silent "However, Kingdom Hearts itself intervened after the maidens had been sacrificed. It would give anything the last person standing in that desert asked for, and the armies dissolved and fought within themselves, wanting to become that person. I know that, at the end, only Xehanort and Maleficent were left, but neither of them could attain Kingdom Hearts. The real winner was…" He paused, as if uncertain of what to say next.

"A mystery" Ansem finished, still astounded "Some versions say there was a boy who beat the two singlehandedly and asked for Kingdom Hearts to never appear again, but there is not enough evidence. What is true is that there is now a barred wasteland, with hundreds of Keys known as the Keyblade Necropolis, or Keyblade Graveyard, where the battle took place. I see you do know a bit about history, Strife. Sit down." He did so and Ansem continued where he had left off: with Xehanort's childhood in Destiny Islands.

"That was awesome! How do you know so much about that?" Sora asked once Roxas sat down.

"I just do." He said completely uninterested. It was starting to get on the brunet's nerves but he held it in.

After gaining enough courage to ask him another thing, the bell rang and Roxas was out towards his next class, wherever it may be.

* * *

Turned out, Sora had four classes with Roxas, and almost always in the chair next to or in front of him. It made it all the more annoying trying to communicate with the blond and getting just monosyllabic answers or head movements. Finally just as the last class of the day was over he snapped at him before he had the chance to run away again.

"What's your problem?" Sora said quite angrily. Roxas stopped his dash out of the classroom and looked at him wide eyed "I've been trying to talk to you all day. If you don't like me, tell me from the beginning so I don't look like an idiot!" the blond continued staring, not opening his mouth, Sora just growled "If you haven't noticed, things happen outside that weird hairdo you call head!" He wasn't entirely sure why he said that, his hair was just as spiky and messy, but it simply was the only thing that went through his head. About a minute after that speech Roxas let out a sound. He chuckled.

The blond was laughing at him! Sora's ears went red in embarrassment. God was he childish, practically yelling at a random kid because he didn't talk, though his laugh was kinda pleasant to hear…

"S-sorry," he said taking a breath "it's just, you remind me of somebody." After a few more breaths the soft laugh died out "I'm sorry Sora" he said. Sora blushed for some reason when he noticed the blond had actually remembered his name "I actually didn't notice you were trying to talk to me, I'm a little slow at these things."

"Um… It's okay… sorry for shouting at you like that…" He muttered, completely ashamed. Roxas just gave him a smile that made him feel warmness in his cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. Let's start over again, alright? I'm Roxas and I'm very much pleased to meet you!" The childish smile the blond gave was so bright and contagious that Sora had to grin back.

"I'm Sora! I hope we can become good friends!" He felt like he was eight, but seeing Roxas' eyes lit up in happiness to be more than worth it.

They stayed like that for a moment, neither wanting to break eye contact. Roxas finally let his eyes wander towards the clock and saw the time, almost half an hour had passed since the end of classes.

"I think we should get going…" he said, Sora followed his gaze and cursed.

"My parents are gonna kill me!" He rushed out of the classroom, but before Roxas could even turn around, he saw the brunet giving some steps back "I'll… see you tomorrow?" he said doubtfully.

"Of course, I'll be waiting." he smiled warmly. Sora nodded with a grin on his face and was off again, leaving Roxas with his memories.

* * *

_Roxas was again sitting by himself in the garden of the huge mansion on Twilight Town. The eight year old missed his parents, and wondered what little Cloud would be doing… had he learned to walk already? He sighed, he would never know for sure, he didn't remember the way back home, and the only people who could know where the farm was… were his parents._

"_Hey!" A high pitched voice called from behind him. He turned around to see his new mistress, a raven haired girl with bright blue eyes and an ever present smile. He acknowledged her presence with a bow, only to receive a pout "I told you to greet me with words…" she complained. The first few days had been a non-talking agreement. Xion didn't talk, and neither did he, just kept the girl company. As she became bored she began to demand more words on Roxas' part, but up till then he had just answered what was necessary to answer her questions._

"_I'm sorry… hello young miss…" he said in a soft voice, the girl glared at him "… Xion" he corrected himself, the girl smiled and told him all about her new teachers and how school was a pain. He just sat there and nodded every 10 seconds as she told him about something he would never see, girls in plaid skirts playing pranks on a `governess´ and such, but not really paying attention to any of it._

"_Hey!" Xion shouted angrily. Roxas jumped and looked at her "I'm talking to you! Not AT you! At least try to listen so I don't look like an idiot! There's a world outside that weird hairdo you call head!" Roxas was at a loss of words, in the two weeks he had been there, Xion had never shouted at him. It was both scary and intriguing._

"_I-I'm sorry… I just was thinking about my family…" Xion's glare softened, but didn't disappear._

"_That's no excuse!" she crossed her arms "You're here to be my friend! I want you to be too!" she stomped her foot and Roxas saw a glint of playfulness in her eyes. She really did want him to be happy in here._

"_I'm sorry; I'm a little slow in these things…" He didn't have many friends back home, and all of them said he was too cold for a kid._

"_So let's begin again: Welcome to my house! I hope you'll be happy while here! What's your name?" she said as if he really was a new person. Roxas smiled and decided to give it a try._

"_I'm Roxas and I'm very much pleased to meet you!__" he grinned as much as he could. For some reason it didn't feel fake at all._

"_I'm Xion! I hope we can become good friends!" she grinned back. The rest of the evening was spent talking about nothing, laughing without reason, and more importantly having that light feeling in his chest._

* * *

When Roxas returned to the present, he had already walked all the way back to his new home. Naminé smiled at him and asked how his first day was.

"It was… interesting" he said "I talked to Sora today… you were right, he's the same kind of person as Xion"

"Does that mean…?"

"Yeah, I accept him as Xion's reincarnation," he smiled "even if he's a boy, he has the same… outgoing and friendly attitude…" after some conversation about his classes, she told him to go upstairs and organize his room while she made dinner.

"I hope… everything turns out okay… for the both of you." She whispered towards the stairs.

* * *

**I think I'll update every Friday or on the weekend. Please review, they make me happy :)**

_If we can't update on those days, we'll tell you in these notes at the end, so keep an eye on them. See you next week!_


	3. Chapter 03: Friends

_**Reinkarnacja**_

**To FlightFoot: Yes, Xion is not the only one, I have a subplot based around that, but I don't know if I'll put it in yet, so for now, it's only Xion Roxas cares about, and so the only one he'll notice as a reborn person. Thanks for reviewing!**

_To chrisal: Well, Sora is dense, but mostly because he knows nothing about who he was. He doesn't even know why he feels like he should meet and be with Roxas XP Thank you for your nice review!_

**To Shino159 and Anna Shiki: Thank you so much for taking the time to review and liking this, we'll try to get better with each chapter!**

_Last, but not least, thanks to zahedra and shadow's lIght12 for putting this story on alert and neko natari-chan and narutopower1991 for putting it in favorites._

**The title is polish this week. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**03: Friends**_

The following day was a Thursday, and Roxas could feel the anticipation from the other students, slowly losing the inhibitions school life imposed. Riku, Sora's friend, for one, had approached him without a warning practically forced him to fight after school. And so he was in his chemistry class, a little too nervous for his own good. True, he had fought before, and was quite good at it, but if he got in trouble, Naminé would most probably show that sad/disappointed face, which was actually quite worse than a physical punishment. So he would not fight, be beaten to a pulp, and then pull himself along until he got home. He shuddered, which got him Sora's attention. The brunet tossed his pencil near him.

"Something wrong?" he asked as he bent down. Vexen didn't even notice.

"Your friend wants to kill me, and I'm going to let him" he said as the other went back up, Sora just snickered.

"Talk to him. He will back off soon" he assured. After class was over Sora brought the silver head to him.

Sora told them to talk about it and went towards his next class, completely ignoring Roxas' eyes, which were searching for help.

It was… rather strange, being able to befriend a person after just three minutes of conversation and half an hour of not-awkward staring, but he already felt pretty close to Roxas. He began doodling beside his notes some cartoony characters, Kairi (with an eye bigger than the other) talking to a bored-looking (and with a head three times his chest) Riku. In the other side he drew a funny looking Roxas looking longingly outside the paper and towards him. He blushed at it, but continued immersed in the drawing. A sudden mental image of a raven headed girl looking back at the drawing made him look up from the paper.

'What was that… about?' he thought as he got aware of his surroundings once more. Roxas was now there, looking at him from his seat the same way his doodle was. He felt his face grow hot as the blond changed his expression into one of fake anger.

"How could you let me alone with Riku? It was so awkward, I didn't—" Sora stopped paying attention, he had a… memory, he supposed it could be called, of a young Roxas complaining about pretty much the same thing about a kitchen help, he knew what to answer even before the blond finished.

"Don't be such a baby," he recited, as if repeating a whispered line of dialogue "If you hadn't done it there would be no closure…" Sora scratched his head, speaking with Roxas was weird, like a déjà vu "Can… can you talk a bit different?"

"What do you mean?" the other asked, puzzled.

"Don't… repeat yourself… it's annoying…" That was it! It was like a repeated conversation, as if he had said the same thing before. But Sora didn't remember having any of these conversations with Roxas, and he was sure the blond now thought he was crazy.

"… I get it… Sorry, it won't happen again." Sora didn't comprehend how Roxas understood, but he was glad, he didn't feel like repeating a life.

* * *

Roxas sighed, he had made a stupid mistake, he couldn't expect to be near Sora just by doing the same things he did with Xion. Naminé was right, he was not Xion, but he couldn't really grasp doing anything differently.

Xion had been the one to pull him out of his shyness, it was difficult talking to someone who resembled her so much and not repeat some things he remembered saying to her. But Sora didn't deserve being Xion all over again, he had already lived that life, somehow, he had to make friends with Sora without relying on memories he didn't have.

"Sora…" he whispered, not really meaning to catch his attention, just to try to remind himself who the brunet really was. The boy however, did look up, watching him with questioning eyes.

"What is it?" he said in a hushed tone, because of the class president standing up and talking about some field trip in the background, Roxas didn't even hear it.

"I don't want anything to repeat again…" he muttered, not aware of Sora listening, he didn't want him to die like Xion "I want… have to know everything about you." It only made sense, knowing him for who he is right now would prevent it from being Xion all over again.

Sora was left speechless, Roxas was indeed a weird guy, yet so easy to read sometimes. Even when he said things that were completely irrational, the familiarity didn't go away, it just intensified everytime he saw him. Luckily, he didn't have to respond to Roxas' awkward comment, as the bell rang about a minute after it. Sora hurried to the cafeteria and waited in his usual table for Kairi and Riku. When they saw him without a tray of food Kairi sighed and bought an extra lunch for him. The sound of the trays hitting the table was enough to make the boy pay attention to them.

"Hey guys!" He said cheerfully "Riku, how did everything turn out with Roxas?" the brunet asked, as he hadn't heard anything from the blond.

"Okay, I guess" Riku shrugged "Still don't like him, but he ain't so bad" Kairi just giggled at Riku's aloof attitude, as he tried to keep a small smile from appearing on his face. The brunet sighed, they were entering 'lovebirds' mode again. Everybody noticed when it happened but them, and ended up being so awkwardly sweet it made anyone around them uncomfortable.

Sora looked away before it was too late and noticed a way too familiar blond going towards an empty table. He seemed completely okay with that, being alone. Sora didn't like it, seeing Roxas alone filled him with hurt. He glanced back at his friends and saw Kairi sighing overdramatically at Riku's messy eating and reaching over to clean his mouth with her knitted handkerchief. Deciding they wouldn't even notice him gone, he stood up with his tray and went over to him.

As he approached the blond, his stomach turned with nervousness, what if Roxas liked eating alone and he just bothered him? What if he began rambling and said something that offended Roxas? What if—

A redhead, Axel, if he remembered correctly, was faster then he was and sat down next to Roxas (taking into account he had completely stopped to mull over what could go wrong, it was to be expected). He suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed and gave a 180º turn, doing his best to ignore the impulse to look at them and see Roxas' every reaction to the newcomer.

* * *

"Hey!" Roxas heard someone beside him, he looked up from his mashed potatoes to see a smirking redhead sitting down in the table "You new?" he asked.

"Yeah… I'm Roxas" he said cautiously, this guy looked incredibly weird, were those things below his eyes tattoos? There was barely any skin in there! It must have hurt like hell!

"The name's Axel, got it memorized?" that smirk never left his face, it was a bit creepy.

"Uh… sure" What was he supposed to say? This guy was a nut job! Axel looked at him for a moment before a twinkle of realization passed through his poison green eyes.

"I see…" he muttered "So… Something you miss from home?" he put his hands behind his head while he balanced his chair. He glanced at a point in the cafeteria and nodded at someone, whatever response he got was satisfying enough to make that smirk turn into a grin.

"Yeah, actually, I do," The blond said as he tried to follow the redhead's gaze, but his best guesses were either a mullet guy with blond hair and a scary looking blue haired guy "There's a girl I had been with all my life, so not having her around is kind of weird." There was something about Axel that made him loosen up a bit, he felt like he could trust him, even if he was weird.

* * *

Sora growled at the pair, who seemed to be quite good friends now. Maybe Roxas was just like that, able to befriend people in minutes, or maybe he already knew Axel from before, he'll have to ask him after lunch.

"Sora, you okay?" Kairi said tapping him on his shoulder, Sora turned towards her and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry, do you know something about that guy next to Roxas?" he asked, changing the topic as he turned back and saw the redhead giving him a blue ice-cream. Kairi would give him all the information he needed, and maybe more than that, she knew everything about everyone in this school, it was useful, scary and annoying at the same time.

"Mmm… That's Axel, a lazy bum who always hangs out with Saïx, you know, the creepy blue haired guy with an X scar?" Sora nodded, still staring "Well, I think as of late they had been in some kind of fight over Saïx being a teacher's pet or something, I don't know all the details, but I do know they want to piss each other off as much as they can."

"Do you think he knows Roxas?" Sora said before Kairi went in a detailed description of how they met and became best friends. His eye twitched when he saw Axel's arm go behind Roxas' back.

"I don't think so; Axel is just like that, always picking up people that look lonely and making friends with them." Riku just grunted in annoyance at the two, he hated when Kairi began to gossip, it was quite annoying.

"Let me sum this up before this goes any longer," the silverhead interrupted "Axel befriends anyone and anything, that obviously annoys Saïx, Roxas falls into the 'anyone and anything' category, and they are arguing. Connect the dots and stop bothering me." Sora just nodded and glared at the redhead.

"And what info do you have on Roxas?" He said as he continued watching. It was Riku's turn to growl.

* * *

**Short (and crappy, IMO) chapter, but I needed to introduce Axel, and I tried to give jealousy to Sora because his soul remembers being the one closer to Roxas, it's just buildup, but next chapter will be longer (and better, I hope)**

_Sorry for the delay, but FF is acting really weird, expect next chapter next Saturday if everything turns out alright. Thanks to chrisal to tell us about it!_


	4. Chapter 04: Date

_**Reencarnació**_

**To chrisal: Actually, I do believe Riku just won against Roxas in Deep Dive because he cheated and called what was left of Xehanort's Heartless, otherwise he would have kicked his ass! Still, yeah, the guy doesn't care, yet is forced to listen; it actually happens a lot to me. Thanks for the review!**

_To Anna Shiki: Of course he is (both jealous and curious)! Roxas has a mysterious, reserved, yet so approachable aura it's impossible to meet someone like him and not think, at least "cool". Thank you for reviewing!_

**To Flightfoot: Axel didn't meet Roxas in a past life. It's in part to piss off Saïx and also because… well, read the chapter to find out :) Thanks for reviewing.**

_To Innocent Uke Or NOT: You like Xion here because she's dead, don't you? (lol, jk) But yeah, It only made sense for Xion and Sora to be the same person, and Xion wasn't exactly Roxas' lover, but that is for another chapter to discuss. Glad to know you like it!_

**The title is in Catalan. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**04: Date**_

Axel wasn't as simple as you might think at second glance (it's impossible to think that at first glance). True, he liked quite generic things, and it was pretty easy to keep him in a happy mood, but he was also quite an observant person. His sight went far beyond anyone would think, right through your soul and further than that.

Saïx had noticed right from the start, they were only children at the time, and became best friends simply because of that. Saïx was reserved, yet Axel knew every little thing he hid from everyone else, and the blue haired man both hated and was grateful for it. Then again, their current fight revolved right around the fact of Axel's inability to keep his mouth shut and talk about things he knew, but that Saïx hadn't told him.

Such as Xemnas' arrangement for Saïx to become an 'assistant teacher' (read: the one to tell him who messed up, adore the floor he walked on and tell him who wasn't paying attention to class, in two words: teacher's pet). They began arguing at Monday, and by the end of the week, none of them had made a move to make amends.

Axel wasn't going to apologize for being himself, it was stupid, Saïx was the one who was changing, not him, and he'll be damned if a power hungry douche with a scar (which, by the way, did it himself in a clumsy moment) controlled him with a past relationship.

And that's where Roxas came in. He was a quiet person, and kept to himself. He reminded him of a boy he played with when he and Saïx were children, yet in his eyes there was something that wouldn't have fit Ven: pure sadness. He saw such melancholy in those eyes it had been impossible to not try to cheer him up. It was as if he missed a whole world that he could not come back to. And also there was curiosity, Something about the blond was off, he didn't fully belong here and did at the same time, it was quite interesting to watch… and apparently, he wasn't the only one with that opinion, noticing a boy some tables away looking at Roxas too.

"So Roxas… What do you think about… let's see…" he glanced around the cafeteria, it was just for show, he knew who he was looking for "That guy over there" he pointed at the brunet, and enjoyed the shocked expression on Roxas' face when he saw the other boy looking back at them, the brunet blushed profusely and turned back "He seems to know you. Who's he?"

"Umh… Sora, he's… an acquaintance, I think…" Axel just chuckled, he was more than that, he actually knew him quite a bit, he could tell. Roxas just shifted his eyes and ate the sea salt ice cream he had given him before. The redhead smirked.

* * *

"… At 3:00 tomorrow, Okay?" The redhead heard a feminine voice talk. He peeked around the corner and saw Kairi talking to her not-boyfriend and Sora.

"Sure," Not-boyfriend replied in a disinterested fashion. Sora just nodded enthusiastically.

"See you then!" she smiled and walked towards Axel. The redhead felt a quite hard pinch on his arm, he could only grunt in pain, "Why are you spying on me?" Oh right! Kairi didn't trust him since the whole 'kidnap you for a bit' incident (in his defense, he just wanted to prove to Saïx he could approach anyone in anyway, Kairi had just been an unfortunate passerby).

"My friend is interested in yours…" the pinch got even harder, he could practically feel a muscle being ripped off along with the skin.

"Why would Saïx be interested in Riku?" my, my, was she getting jealous over Not-boyfriend? How adorable! He chuckled as the pain got a little bearable.

"You got it all wrong," he tried to calm her, the pinch became a tight squeeze, but still managed to hurt "Roxas is… curious about Sora. And I'm sure you noticed it's not one-sided" Kairi's look revealed he was right.

"He asked me about him at lunch," she said slowly "I didn't tell him much, it's rather… personal" Axel nodded "… What are you plotting?" charming, she didn't use 'plan', or 'think', just 'plot'; he must be quite the villain in her eyes.

"You have free period now, right?" she nodded "Well, then I'll tell you everything, but first, do tell me, what are you going to do tomorrow at 3:00?"

* * *

"Roxas!" the blond heard Axel shout as he walked home, he turned around to see the redhead panting and give him his now familiar smirk, "Glad I could catch up to you! Say, do you wanna go watch a movie tomorrow? Around 3:00?" Roxas was completely confused, but nodded "Great! See you in front of the theater at 2:45, don't be late!" He hurried off, leaving Roxas alone.

"Well, that's quite a cheerful fellow." …Or so he thought, he jumped back to see Naminé staring in the direction Axel disappeared.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, trying to get over his shock.

"Groceries" she showed him a paper bag full of food "You don't think they magically appear in the freezer, do you?" Roxas blushed in embarrassment, and promptly avoided the question.

"I don't get why he's like that, it's like he's trying to read everyone…"

"He is." Roxas stared at her, waiting for an explanation "That guy is _awakened_; he remembers his past life quite well. To him, they're probably just dreams or interesting stories his mind made up, but knowing who they were in the past, give people a good understanding of who they are now and how others are…"

"So Axel somehow knows I'm not good with people and became my friend?"

"Not exactly, there's that, but you leave quite an impression on awakened beings," the girl smiled warmly at him "your whole existence is from the past, not just your soul or thoughts, they find it so familiar with their memories, they're just attracted to you."

"Is Sora…?"

"No, but his soul recognizes you nonetheless, it remembers you because you are still the same Roxas" They stayed quiet until they reached home, now repainted with earthy colors by Naminé (except for a single room, that stayed white) to remind him of his old home at Twilight Town. He smiled with some melancholy.

"Ah! I almost forget," he turned to his 'sister' and asked "What's a movie?"

* * *

Sora just smiled happily as he rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting for his friends to appear, that's just what he needed to get over the fact that Roxas could have other friends. It would be selfish to want him all for himself, wouldn't it? Yup, it was definitely better to just sit back at a cinema and enjoy Kairi's random comments and Riku's sarcastic ones.

After five minutes he decided to buy the entrances himself and have them pay them back after the movie. He looked around for something to do (which was weird, he always arrived last) and decided to look at people pass while he waited.

There was a woman trying to keep up with her hyper child as the little boy told her how great the movie was. Sora smiled at the little kid, he remembered when he did that. Going the other direction was a couple, probably intending to watch the latest romance flick and make out in the dark. Then there was Roxas walking towards the entran—

What was Roxas doing here? The whole plan was to have so much fun he would forget the possessiveness that invaded him the day before! He would ruin everything!

A beep in his pocket alerted him of a text message, it was from Kairi, something or another happened in her house and she couldn't make it. Even before he could close the phone, a text from Riku saying he couldn't be there (no explanations… typical) also appeared on the screen. The brunet sighed, he doubted he could get a refund for the tickets, and decided to go home.

Until he saw a redhead approaching Roxas, he frowned when the blond greeted Axel and he just gave him an apologetic smile. They talked for a bit before Roxas nodded at something and Axel went away. Sora seized the opportunity to talk to Roxas about what was he doing here with mister fire hair.

"Roxas! What a surprise!" did that sound fake? He hoped not "what are you doing here?" the blond looked quite shocked to see him there

"Hey Sora… I was going to see a movie with Axel" the brunet felt a small twitch in his left eye "but he told me he had something to do, so I better go home…"

"You don't have to!" Sora replied quickly "My friends aren't coming either, I could give you an extra ticket" he pulled out the two entrances, Roxas looked uneasy.

"I don't know…"

"C'mon! Let's make a deal, I'll give the entrances, and you buy the snacks, deal?" he smiled and Roxas passed his hand over his neck in embarrassment.

"Deal!" a feminine voice spoke out of nowhere and grabbed one of the tickets, giving the other to Roxas "I'll see you inside, Roxas!" a blond haired girl smiled. Sora had an urge to growl.

"Who was that?" he said in the happiest (fake) tone he could achieve.

"My… sister, Naminé," he responded, looking down "She wanted to come too…"

"Oh…" the smile was back on his face, relatives had the right to be close, no biggie "well then, let's go buy some popcorn!" he dragged Roxas along to the food kiosk.

* * *

"Well, there goes your plan…" Not-boyfriend said sarcastically, God, was he beginning to hate him.

"Shush! The sister is just a minor set back. Besides, she seems pretty quiet, it'll be like being alone" Axel stared at Sora babbling about candy to Roxas who just smiled and nodded.

"I can't believe I'll say this, but Axel is right, Roxas' sister won't interfere, I just know it" And he was liking Kairi more and more! Finally a person who recognized his genius! "It's still dumb to force them like this, you know?" well, kinda.

"Oh shut up! It'll work out, now we leave them alone, go away, have a date or something!" He smirked at the result, a flushed redhead and a pink tint on the silver head, both averting each other's eyes.

* * *

"So, where do you live?" Sora asked in a whisper as the movie went on in front of them. They had been like this for half an hour, asking questions while the protagonist swore vengeance over something.

"It's in downtown, about 5 minutes from Deling Beach." Roxas always gave short answers, while his questions were answered in minutes "What about you?"

"We live close then! I live by Destiny beach, it's just beside Deling, we could walk home together! I know this place where they make some incredible smoothies of any possible flavor! There's also…" Sora was a lot chattier than Xion ever was, but that was a good thing, awkward silences didn't happen, and he was beginning to get to know him better and better. He didn't need to know what a `smoothie´ was to know that Sora liked them. He talked about everything, music, food, TV shows, and many things with a smile that made Roxas feel warm.

"Sora," he interrupted. The brunet stopped talking and looked at him with questioning eyes "Do you think we could do this again some other time?" he asked and was rewarded with a big grin.

"Of course! Anytime!" Sora at this moment felt closer to Roxas than everyone else, maybe feeling this possessiveness wasn't as bad as he thought, it had guaranteed him an afternoon with the blond, and had gotten himself another one sometime "I'm glad… you came here, Roxas" for some reason he had meant to say _I'm glad to see you again_, but that didn't make sense, did it?

"Me too…" well, it didn't matter, as long as Roxas was there…

Naminé looked away from them, guilt flooded through her very being at her mission.

"_Soon…very soon"_.

T

**I actually enjoyed writing in Axel POV in this chapter, he's easy to write. Next chapter includes a field trip to Roxas' past!**

_Also next chapter: We'll discover whether Light puts the damn subplot about a certain person or not. Expect it Friday or Saturday._


	5. Chapter 05: Memories

_**Reencarnación**_

**To chrisal: To be fair, Axel is not an angel, but he's the only thing available to pair them, so… yeah, maybe a devil with good intentions?**

_To Flightfoot: Glad you liked Axel, about Riku and Kairi, yeah, why not, Axel pretty much writes himself (most of the things you saw last chapter appeared without us thinking about it beforehand)._

**To Innocent Uke Or NOT: Yeah, Xion is pretty much tragic, and here too, I just don't know how yet. Sora won't rest until he's the first in Roxas' mind :P That I can assure you.**

_To Anna Shiki: Well, Not-boyfriend is Riku of course! Axel seems like the type to not bother about names if the people don't interest him. Naminé has to act according to Roxas' wish to Kingdom Hearts, thing is, he (and Sora) might not like the outcome of it._

**To YaoiGirly: Glad you like it! Let's see how we did in this one :)**

**Title is Spanish. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**05: Memories**_

Naminé sat by the table she had set on the white room, all the drawings she had made, they made her feel sick now. Abominations near completion, that's all they were, they just needed to serve their purpose.

"Can't it stay like this? At least for a while?" she whispered towards the sky. Almost instantly, a voice boomed through the room.

_You were made for that day, your existence, like Roxas', would be nothing but a mistake otherwise._

"I… I understand." She submitted to her creator. Of all the people in the world, she hated herself the most, she held Roxas too dearly to do that to him, but she had no choice. Only a created being, a byproduct of a wish, almost a mistake, and yet, she was able to feel the pain and love of those around her, and even love them back.

Naminé could do nothing but hope for Sora to take the decision that would bring Roxas' happiness.

* * *

"An excursion?" Roxas asked, going through the halls with Sora.

"Yup! There's one every year, it's a social studies thing, but they never bring it up again, so we just spend the weekend in another place!" Sora beamed, their class had to go to Twilight Town, supposedly because it hadn't changed in years, and he was practically bouncing with glee. They were known for their exquisite bakery, and he definitely wanted a taste of their best chiffon cake. Now that he thought about it, Roxas was from there too…

"Yo!" Axel said with a grin on his face, appearing suddenly behind them and placing his arm around Roxas' back. Over the course of the two weeks that followed their cinema trip, Sora had learned to tolerate the redhead grabbing Roxas (it also helped that the blond looked extremely uncomfortable everytime it happened), yet he found himself sighing in annoyance way more often than he would like "You guys already know where are you going this weekend?"

"Twilight Town," Roxas said with a smile on his face. Sora could see he was remembering good times in his old home, he didn't feel like taking him out of dreamland, because, for some reason, he felt nostalgic too.

"Damn! I have to go to Radiant Garden, and I swear, if Demyx keeps on saying how 'musical' the whole thing is, he won't come back from the government house!" He hugged Roxas with a melodramatic expression in his face "Please my Roxy! Save me from that guy's whimsical rants, reject your trip and go with me!" He said in a faux-English accent. Roxas just rolled his eyes and shook him off, going towards the bathroom.

"You're such a weirdo sometimes…" he said, annoyed.

"You know you love me, anyways!" He shouted at him, earning him a few curious glances and some sighs as if to say 'yeah, that's Axel'. Sora just glared, the redhead shouldn't say things like that to Roxas! There was a limit to his patience! Axel looked at him and his expression turned malicious "Jealous?"

It was scary, really, Axel would sometimes talk in that soft, almost seductive tone to him when they were alone. He looked a lot more serious when doing this, nothing like his over the top declarations to Roxas, and Sora was starting to feel uncomfortable with it.

"W-What are you talking about?" he stuttered, there was no reason to be jealous, Roxas saw Axel as nothing more than a friend… and even if that wasn't the case, why would he get jealous of that? No reason, definitely no reason.

Axel's smirk became a playful grin.

"Don't you wish to be in my place every once in a while? Like when I'm hugging him or asking him not to leave?" The brunet blushed and shook his head furiously, Axel just laughed "You have him to yourself the whole weekend, try some of it before he actually relents to my advances…" he said in that soft voice again. Was he serious the whole time, then? That couldn't be true! Axel was just playing around, right?

The whole jester attitude could lead to both directions, and just considering Axel and Roxas together made him want to puke, cry and punch something, all at the same time.

"Axel! Don't leave me alone with Larxene!" They heard someone shout, a mullet becoming visible among the crowd.

"Tch… Gotta go! If Demyx asks, I disappeared underground!" he kneeled down before his height exposed him and went away quietly.

* * *

Damn Demyx, and his intent to not spend his field trip alone with witch Larxene as always! He would admit, the guy was okay, but there was only so much cheeriness he could bear in a day.

And he had been so close to getting something out of Sora, too! Kairi had said to 'let them be', but he couldn't do that! He was way too bored to let them figure it out themselves; he would have a hand in their getting together no matter what!

As he crawled towards his next class he saw Kairi talking to the silver head by the lockers. Typical to best friend crushes, the guy pretended to listen to her talk while looking at her (recently glossed) lips with a retarded expression Kairi had not even noticed.

Whatever, as he said, he was bored, so he promptly pushed the chatty redhead just a little bit (seriously, their faces were like, half an inch apart already) and provoked a kiss. They were so shocked they didn't even notice Axel guiding Soon-to-be-boyfriend's arms around Kairi's waist, who immediately hugged his neck, damn was he good.

He stood up and waited beside them for them to end their kiss and embarrass themselves trying to explain the situation.

"I finally caught up to you!" Demyx gasped, and looked up at him with a grin "As I was saying, the three of us will have so much fun! I heard there was…" The guy began dragging him to chemistry as he went on. Axel groaned, why him?

Riku and Kairi continued their kiss, as if nothing happened around them.

* * *

At lunch, Sora could not take his eyes off of Axel and Roxas, he had, of course, congratulated Riku and Kairi for hooking up when he saw them holding hands in the cafeteria, but that was all the interaction he had with them.

"We're not exactly going out Sora!" Kairi huffed "We just decided to give it a try and then decide, after all, we've been just friends for a long time and I don't want…" The brunet tuned the conversation out. Axel was not doing anything out of the ordinary, so he centered on Roxas. The question was not whether the redhead would flirt or not, but how Roxas responded. After lunch was over he was satisfied to say Roxas still found the redhead annoying.

"_But for how long?_" was the only thing on his mind.

* * *

The bus was about to part, and seeing how Riku and Kairi were still on their 'trial phase', Sora had chosen to sit with Roxas instead of in the back with his friends (actually, everybody was evading the back of the bus like the plague). It was actually quite pleasant to talk with him without the threat of the redhead, and Roxas had some interesting stories too.

"… and then she just ran away. We took almost three hours trying to find her, her mother was so pissed I thought she would murder me in cold blood," He said, chuckling. Even if he talked about Xion to Sora it was alright, Sora seemed to be too busy laughing to care or notice similarities.

"Like that time we… nothing" the brunet stopped laughing, and furrowed his brow in what seemed to be confusion.

"What is it, Sora?" he coaxed gently. The boy just turned red and looked away.

"It was just a silly dream I had yesterday…" he muttered "I told you to run away with me before my mother found us… we then went up to a tower and talked about how beautiful the sunset was that day… silly, right?" Sora scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, his cheeks red as a tomato.

"I don't think so," the blond grinned and held Sora's hand in his "I'd really like to see that sunset with you." Xion's memories… were leaking, what did this mean? Sora hadn't heard about Xion until that day, how come he was remembering things he considered were best left forgotten?

* * *

"_Roxas! Let's go, the store will close!" Xion tapped her foot expectantly as the blond caught up to her, gasping for air._

"_I-I'm sorry, b-but what do we have to buy?" He huffed and walked (ran) beside her. The girl just winked._

"_It's a surprise!"_

* * *

_As the sunset approached, Xion was still dragging Roxas around town, enjoying their little treat (a heart-shaped cinnamon roll), she looked up at the sky and sighed heavily._

"_It's getting late…" she informed._

"_Let's go home then," Roxas smiled, he began walking towards the mansion, but a hand stopped him._

"_Wait…" Roxas gulped, Xion's eyes meant only trouble "Mom is going to be mad at us no matter what, right?" the blond nodded "So, let's not go home yet!" Still holding her friend's hand, Xion rushed towards the station, smiling and ignoring Roxas' 'we should…'s and 'why don't we…?'s._

_When they arrived at the station, Xion looked around to make sure nobody was watching them and dragged him through a 'Do not enter' door and a set of stairs. Outside, the sunset was at its prime, hundreds of shades of oranges, blues and reds in the sky. Roxas finally shut up and sat beside his best friend, astounded by the beauty of it._

"_You know, Roxas?" Xion spoke softly "This place is called Twilight Town because the mountain it was built on had the best sunsets. As the city grew, the people could no longer see them, so they constructed this tower… Nowadays no one cares about sunsets, though, so nobody comes up here" the girl hugged her knees "This is my secret place, everytime I escape the mansion I come here… It's a secret though; you're the only one that must know!" She glared. Roxas nodded in agreement._

"_It's okay, it's our secret now…" It felt good, sharing this with Xion. Both stayed quiet until the night finally took over, Roxas sighed "Let's go, we're going to get an earful from the mistress…" he offered his hand to Xion._

"_Can't we stay a little more?" she pleaded, Roxas shook his head "Okay, you're right. She'll just worry more and more with time…" she took the blond's hand, and didn't let go even once she had stood up, making Roxas blush._

_They ran through the streets, almost hitting many random passersby in the way. After they made it to the forest (really, the mansion's outer gardens, but they were too big to really think of them as such), Xion tripped on a rock. Her fall was abruptly stopped by a white haired man with an enigmatic smile._

"_Be careful miss, you don't want to hurt yourself, do you?" he said in a deep voice. Xion cowered behind Roxas, scared of… something. That man with yellow eyes sent shivers to her. Roxas noticed and stood in front of her with a frown. That made the man finally took notice of him too "Are you protecting her, little boy? You better. There are a lot of people who wouldn't mind using such a fair maiden… for her destined role…"_

_And just like that, the man Roxas would later know as Xehanort disappeared._

* * *

Roxas remembered that day with both happiness and sadness. He was just thirteen when he discovered that if he didn't do anything to stop the so-called destiny, his beloved friend would disappear and never come back.

Sora, on the other hand, was fidgeting like crazy at Roxas' last comment, he felt so giddy at the thought of being important to the blond, but it also made him so nervous! What could he say without sounding like a moron? God, talking to Roxas was the worst thing ever, just trying to not make a fool out of himself and feeling embarrassed over everything, yet it also was completely exhilarating (and touching his hand was incredibly nice, too).

With one brooding, and the other over thinking the possibilities, none noticed the bus come to a stop until Ansem stood up and talked.

"Before going into the city, I thought it would be a good learning experience coming here" The man said loudly, taking the boys out of their daze. Wanting to move around a bit, everybody rushed out of the bus. When the boys finally got out, Roxas felt like throwing up. In front of him was his most guilty memory, a barren desert with thousands of old keys making a crossroad. All the lives he had taken had seemed like nothing in his blind rage, but with Sora (Xion) alive, he could see the horrors he helped construct. The Keyblade Graveyard seemed to leer at him "You have thirty minutes, do as you like."

"Roxas, are you okay?" Sora asked, worried. The place sent shivers to him, but nothing like what Roxas seemed to be going through. The blond was pale and his hands were shaking, he seemed like an utter mess.

"It… it's nothing" he answered, doing his best to compose himself. Those people were evil; they tried to use their keyblades to hurt others and reach Kingdom Hearts, before the war even broke out, they had been okay with capturing the maidens from their homes, they had a hand in their demise, and deserved no better than this. With that in mind he breathed hard, trying to calm down.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Sora, Is it okay if we go over there for a while?" he gestured to some direction. The boy nodded, blushing when Roxas grabbed his hand and dragged him through the left road and kept going straight through the rusted keys "here, look at this…"

Near the end of the road was a rock, with an inscription that looked suspiciously like Roxas' handwriting. Sora looked at him with questioning eyes, making the blond sigh once again.

"It's a gravestone… I used to come here before… read it, you'll understand why I freaked out" If Xion's memories were coming to the surface, then he'd understand without really knowing the truth… at least, he hoped so.

Sora just tried to make out the letters, worn by time, after removing the dust, he could read.

_In memoir of the seven maidens, Princesses of Heart  
__Who were taken from their homes and sacrificed  
__For those wanting the key to Kingdom Hearts.  
__Alice, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White and Xion._

Sora didn't bother to read the rest, the images of a teenage girl being kidnapped by a man in the night and tied beside other girls was enough to make him look away in disgust and fear. He didn't know why he was so afraid, but he was, and actually held Roxas' hand tighter for comfort. He was relieved when Roxas returned the gesture, but he was also worried.

Of all the names he had read, one stood out among the rest and stayed on his mind, maybe because it was carved deeper into the stone, maybe because it seemed… unusual, or maybe because it actually meant something to him.

But whoever this Xion was, Sora was not going to forget her anytime soon.

* * *

**Longest chapter yet! Bring in the hatred for killing off all the Disney Princesses, I deserve it D= Next chapter, we continue on to Twilight Town!**

_We updated a day early, Yay! (Ironic, because this is the longest chapter yet) Next chapter may be even longer, so I don't know if it'll be done by next week, but we'll do our best!_


	6. Chapter 06: To Protect

_**Μετενσάρκωση**_

**To Anna Shiki: You're right, that's how a relationship is supposed to work, but with best friends who know each other since 5 it's difficult to follow those steps without getting awkward… So trial phase it is! Don't worry about being confused, everything will be cleared out in the next two chapters.**

_To Innocent Uke Or NOT: Yay! In fact we try to put as many references to the original series here as we can. Thank you for appreciating it!_

**To YaoiGirly: I actually felt bad about killing them… oh well, the story will be around 10-11 chapters long, but the ending will let me revisit this story if inspiration comes back for it. About the rating… yeah, I actually suck at lemons (or anything "citrusy"), so… maybe it'll be higher, if I get better on those.**

_To chrisal: Remembering might indeed not be the best idea, but the process already began D Axel is really fun to beta, he's like a bipolar me! Hope you like this one!_

_And thanks to silent-insaneminako, NightRaven13 and SaphireWhiteWolf for their alerts/favorites!_

**Title is Greek. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**06: To Protect**_

Within just half an hour, Twilight Town had quickly become Roxas' haven. Nothing in it had changed by much (except for a pair of stores now selling electronics or comic books), and Roxas got the feeling he had only been away from some months, not countless years.

"It's good to be back," He said wistfully, making Sora somewhat hurt. Didn't he like Destiny Islands? Roxas looked directly at him and smiled brightly "And the best thing is that we're both here!"

Sora knew he was going to blush from that, but he was used to it now. He cursed Roxas in his mind for making him so easily flustered, but put on his best smile. On the front of the group, Ansem was talking about the streets and whether they had some important story attached to them or not. Nobody was really listening, but the place was new to almost all of them, so they watched the buildings in awe.

"So… Do you know any cool places to hang out in here?" Sora asked his friend, who just grinned and nodded

"Lots! The ice cream parlor is great; they have the original sea-salt ice cream recipe! There are also a lot of great bakeries and stores, me and Xi-my best friend used to go there all the time…" he corrected himself quickly "But there are a couple of places that were just for the two of us… nobody knew about them!"

Of course, he had friends before meeting him. It was no surprise that they had their secrets, and a part of him was actually glad he didn't reveal them; it was just theirs to share. Besides, he wanted to share his own secrets with the blond and not have them let out.

"And… Care to give me a proper tour rather than…?" his head gestured to the still blabbering Ansem, too deep inside his knowledge to notice anything else.

"Uh… sure, I guess…" Roxas said, looking uncomfortable, why? He noticed too late the sultry tone he had used and fell down in embarrassment "Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

No, he was NOT okay; he had just flirted by accident with Roxas! What if the blond took it seriously and became distant? He accepted Roxas' hand and got up, trying really hard to not look his way and see hose deep blue eyes full with concern.

"I'm fine" he muttered, and wasn't that surprised when Roxas just sighed in relief. It wasn't that bad, he just fell, it wasn't like he had hurt himself or anything, but Roxas was just like that. Everytime Sora hurt himself, groaned in pain, or even had a minor injury, Roxas would freak out like he was just a step away from dying, he found it annoying and charming, for some reason…

"Well, then, as soon as we get everything sorted out at the hotel, I'll take you to Sunset Terrace, the view is beautiful from there…" Roxas said when Ansem stopped in front of a place called 'Flower Restaurant', Twilight Town's hotel/inn. It was not a bad place to stay at, but he would have gone to Tozus Hotel (because of a better layout and it not being filled with non-guests wanting a fancy meal), then again, who knew if Tozus was still as good a hotel as it was back then?

The place was indeed even better than he remembered; they had done a bit of remodeling and now had a check-in desk separated from the bar. The students began going in groups of two or three to share rooms, and the manager (a man named Raijin) was looking pretty satisfied to have so many customers. Beside him was his son Rai, who looked at everyone like a possible criminal, and after the first check-in, went away to God-knows-where.

After he was given his single room key, Rai had come back with a blond guy using a beanie and a petite girl with silver hair and red eyes.

"Hey Losers!" The guy in the beanie said in an obnoxiously loud voice "We are Twilight Town's disciplinary committee! And while you're in our town, any disrespect for this place's fine rules will be heavily punished by us: Seifer, Rai, Fuu and… Vivi! Where are you?" A small boy dressed in blue with a hat hiding most of his face hurried towards the group panting. He had an apologetic look on his face.

The teens just looked at them, unsure if this was some sort of joke, and were left shocked when a boy in cargo pants with very light brown hair came behind them and bonked both Rai and Fuu with a struggle bat, Seifer just grabbed the object before it hit him.

"Ignore this guy, please…" he boy said as he used more force to keep Seifer immobilized "Just enjoy your stay here. Thanks for coming to Twilight Town!" And just like that, a brunette and a short black haired boy came and dragged the unconscious bodies of Rai and Fuu outside with ashamed smiles, while the other guy found a way to push the still hostile Seifer with his bat towards the exit. Vivi went with them silently without any complain.

"What was that about?" Sora asked Roxas under his breath.

"I wish I knew…"

* * *

After Roxas had unpacked everything (and Sora let everything explode out of his backpack), they met up at the entrance. Roxas asked how much munny he had, Sora just told him he had 50000 for the whole weekend.

"That means we can't waste it on the train" he muttered "Okay! Then we'll go to Sunset Terrace by the underground tunnels!" The closest tunnel was the one near Market Street, why would anyone put an underground tunnel by an alleyway, he'll never know.

"Hey Roxas, what's that?" Sora said, pointing towards an open fence near the alley. Roxas just shrugged.

"Used to be a storage room long ago…" A storage room Xion and him had used as a hide out when they were playing, but it was not that significant "Do you want to check it out?" at the brunet's nod, Roxas led him through the fence.

The layout had changed completely. Not one of the things in here looked like storage. There was a pretty old couch and a box used as an improvised table. The walls were covered in posters for different bands and strugglers, and there was also a minifridge in one of the corners…

"Somehow…" Sora said, looking a bit nostalgic "I was kinda hoping for it to be different." Roxas could only nod at him. While his memories of this place were not that important, it still was a reminder of how much time has passed, and how, Twilight Town or no Twilight Town, he wasn't going to get it back.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" they both turned around to see the same boy who had left Rai and Fuu out cold. The boy held his stare towards both of them, making him gulp. Luckily, he didn't seem to have the struggle bat on him, so Roxas could calm down a bit.

"We were just wondering what was back here, sorry." the blond said with a smile. The guy just stared at him some more before grinning stupidly.

"No worries!" he said as his friends arrived to look curiously at the newcomers "I'm Hayner, these are Pence and Olette" he introduced, Olette shook their hands and said a polite hello, Pence just smiled widely.

"You're the tourists staying at Flower Restaurant, right?" the chubby boy said. The two just nodded, somewhat confused "Sorry about earlier, Seifer just doesn't know how to be around people that aren't rivals or lackeys…"

"He's lucky someone considers him and his gang people…" Hayner said under his breath, earning a harsh stare from his brunette friend "what? It's true! Anyways, where are you going? People don't pass through this alley that often."

"Oh… Roxas used to live here before… we're taking the underground tunnel to Sunset Terrace" Sora said with a smile. The three then turned to look closer at the blond.

"Hadn't seen you around before… where did you go to school?" Olette said curiously.

"In… Sunset School for the Elite…" he took Xion's school as his own, hoping it being a feminine academy had changed over the years. The trio's eyes went wide, and Hayner was the first to talk.

"So… are you a snobby rich brat?" he said in what seemed to be disgust. Sora's eyes widened too at Roxas' supposed wealth

"Hayner!" Olette scolded "Sorry" she apologized for her friend.

"Don't worry… I… I'm not rich, my… sister used to work there, so it was easier if I went to school around that area. They lowered the entrance fee because of that" God, did he suck at lying (though it could pass as awkwardness). Pence just smiled, followed by the other two, who promptly offered to go with the boys to Sunset Terrace.

* * *

"…And the guy cheated, he had to! Otherwise I would have beaten him! Not to brag, but I'm the best struggler around!" Hayner continued telling Roxas about his matches as they walked around Sunset Terrace, to which he smiled and contributed with small stories on his own (like Xion's idea to sign him in a competition with pros in struggling).

Sora just watched from the sidelines, envious as Roxas seemed to make even more friends aside from him. Olette touched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Are you not having fun?" she said as she scribbled some notes on a note pad. She had told him their reason for coming to Sunset Terrace was a project for school about some weird urban legends.

"It's not that, it's just…" he glanced at the two guys in front of them, laughing and joking around.

"I wish we had met when you still lived here, Roxas! You could have helped me that time when Seifer…"

"Don't worry about it," the brunette said, smiling "Hayner can be a bit grumpy, but when he warms up he's that attentive towards everyone. I don't think your boyfriend is ignoring you on purpose." Sora blushed.

"Roxas is not my boyfriend!" he said, flustered "We're just friends! Honest!"

"Sorry!" the girl said, equally embarrassed "After seeing you look at each other like that I… I just thought…" Sora stopped listening to the stammering girl. Did… did Roxas look at him too? Maybe he had the same problem as him; this longing, this nostalgia… maybe if they talked about it… he could understand all of it.

"Sora?" he looked up to find his face mere inches away from Roxas'. He gave a step back in shock. "This is Sunset Hill, the place I told you about, the view is great from here!" he said, not really noticing the brunet's reaction at all. Sora tore his gaze away from the blond, and his eyes widened in amazement at the falling sun. Pence pulled out some snacks from his backpack and handed them out to everyone.

"It's really beautiful…" Sora said as he took a bite from a sandwich. He turned his head a little to notice a model of Twilight Town's clock tower. For a moment he swore he saw Roxas and himself on top of it, doing the same as the full size counterparts, enjoying the end of the day.

"I know… we really managed to see it together, right?" To see it _again_, would have been more accurate to Sora, but he just nodded. Too many things had happened that day… after he went back to the hotel, he would have a lot to think about.

* * *

"Hayner then invited us tomorrow to hang around the ice-cream parlor and I felt this weird nostalgia again… what do you think it means?"

"For the last time Sora, I don't care!" Riku said trying to cover his ears with his pillow in their shared room. Kairi, who had arrived mid-story, giggled at him and turned back to the confused Sora.

"But Riku! I need to know what this means, and you're the best when it comes to figuring stuff out!" He whined.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with him" Kairi winked and kissed the silver head's cheek. Riku blushed lightly, still not used to it "First things first. Do you like Roxas?"

"N-no!" Kairi just gave him a skeptic look "I… I don't know. He just feels so familiar; when I'm around him, I feel… happy."

"God Sora, you're a guy! Can't you act like one?" Riku complained.

"Says the male acting like a PMSing tomboy," Kairi mocked, earning herself a Riku-glare which she promptly ignored "Sora, maybe you should go with him tomorrow and… actually consider liking him." she said kindly, Sora blushed a bit and nodded.

"I think I can try…" Riku sighed in relief as the conversation finished. A group consisting of two males and a female shouldn't be talking about feelings as often as he and his friends did.

* * *

"See ya guys tomorrow!" Roxas said as Hayner, Pence and Olette waved. They had promised to see them off the next day, and he felt happy that Twilight Town was still (somewhat) the place he remembered with the same kind people "Sora… before we go I want to show you something." The other boy nodded, smiling at him.

"Where?"

"You'll see…" he said as he took him around the tram common, until they reached a wall that looked a lot more recent than the others in the area "That's weird" he muttered darkly. The entrance to the outer gardens of the mansion had been replaced with a brick wall. As he tried to figure it out Sora pointed at a hole in it.

"I know. This wall isn't so old as to be crumbling." He chuckled a bit, and Roxas felt all the more intrigued as to what had been of his old home. He led Sora through it and was surprised to see the trees growing wildly and the rose bushes gone, replaced with wildflowers and ivies growing everywhere "This doesn't look safe, Roxas. Maybe we should get back to the hotel." He looked scared, grasping his chest in apparent pain.

"No… I… really need you to see this." he also needed to see it, and he felt that without Sora, he wouldn't have the courage to see what was beyond the forest. Sora somehow understood and continued to follow him, trying to ease the pain.

After what appeared to be hours, they finally found the passage towards the mansion, and just seeing it broke Roxas' heart in pieces. The place was in ruins. The beautiful arcs that made the way to the entrance were destroyed, the bushes looked as if they hadn't been pruned in decades, and the house itself, while it had always been old, had never given the feeling of being to the point of falling down before. He turned to Sora, and saw him looking sadly at one of the second floor rooms. He didn't need to follow his gaze to know he was staring at Xion's room, and wrapped his arm around him. He unconsciously let his body go nearer to Roxas'.

"It's funny," he said in a broken voice "I don't even know why I'm sad." Roxas looked down in guilt; he really shouldn't have come here. What did he expect? When Xion's mother died, she had no other person to leave the manor to. It had probably been pillaged and then left in ruins. The worst of all, he had not only saddened himself, but Sora as well.

"These are the ruins of a mansion that once belonged to the richest family in Twilight Town" They both turned around to see an old man walking slowly towards them "Unfortunately, the young miss disappeared one day, leaving this home heirless. It was not until the keyblade war was over that they discovered she had been sacrificed in the conflict. Such a shame…" he looked directly at them, and Roxas immediately recognized those yellow eyes and that hypocritical smirk.

"Xehanort!" he seethed. The old man didn't seem at all surprised by his being here; in fact his smirk only grew.

"I now go by Master, if you please." He said in fake politeness "You don't look a day older yourself, kid, and none the wiser." He mocked.

"Shut up!" He turned to look at Sora, hoping the old man wouldn't recognize him. _Master_ Xehanort glanced at the boy too, who looked to be glaring with all his might at him.

"I have no interest in that boy, you can keep him." he shrugged "I consider myself a very patient man, and waiting a few more years for what I want, is nothing for me… Be careful, though. You know not of the things this frail body can still do." He turned around and walked away, giving a soft, chilly laugh.

"I hate that guy…" Sora growled, he didn't know why, but that man looked both dangerous and frightening. In fact, just his name reminded him of death, as in, dying under the gaze of those golden eyes once before.

"You don't have to worry," Roxas spoke seriously "no matter what happens; this time, I'll protect you, it's a promise." And while Sora enjoyed immensely hearing that, his more rational part kept asking what did he mean by 'this time'.

* * *

**So yeah! Xehanort is alive! This subplot will be important if I write a sequel, but as of now it's just a plot point for Naminé's exposition next chapter (you'll see why he's not an immediate menace next time)**

_Sorry for the little delay, but we had lots of tests this week, enjoy the slightly longer chapter as an apology. Next chapter should be out on Friday._


	7. Chapter 07: Confession

_**Реинкарнация**_

**To Innocent Uke Or NOT: He's close indeed, Xehanort being alive will be explained this chapter (same thing goes to Flightfoot).**

_To Flightfoot: Twilight Town not changing comes from the fact that most of it is a historical place (for reasons not important to the plot). It happens in real life too. If I'm not mistaken there're places all around America that haven't changed since the revolution times._

**To chrisal: Don't worry, language is not a barrier for me! (Lau on the other hand…) Roxas wanted to show him the house because he needed to be sure whether Xion's essence was leaking or not. I'll torture Sora a bit this chapter, but all for the sake of him realizing everything!**

**Title is Russian. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**07: Confession**_

Sora couldn't help but feel like something was off. The next day, when he talked to Pence about the mansion, he had mentioned an old legend about a lonely spirit of a girl who stared through the windows, waiting for someone. He had few seconds to think about it though, as Ansem practically shoved him and Roxas into the bus, while their new friends waved and told them to keep in touch.

He made no secret to his friends about how the day before had been hell. Seeing Roxas… _like that_ had only been troublesome when talking to him. He stuttered like a schoolgirl and practically dragged him away with some lame excuse whenever he felt anyone was too close to the blond. By the end of that day, he had decided to cut the crap and stop, just in time for that Xehanort guy to appear. It had been frightening, that old man only meant trouble. So much he actually had felt relieved when Roxas had vowed to protect him.

Speaking of which, the blond had been awfully quiet since that encounter, only speaking when asked something. Even with such a short time around Roxas, he could tell it meant he had some troubling thoughts. He reached out and touched his hand slightly, giving him some comfort. The other looked up and smiled gratefully, but still didn't talk.

When the bus finally reached the bridge connecting Destiny Islands to the continent, Roxas looked like he had finally got everything somewhat settled, as he looked up in determination.

"I'll see you later…" Sora said softly when they arrived at the bus station. He didn't want to make Roxas mad, but far from that, he just nodded and kissed him on the cheek as a goodbye. Sora blushed, his face so red it resembled an apple. The sequence of actions told him that maybe, just maybe, he did like him…

* * *

Roxas practically ran home, his mind couldn't get over what he had seen the day before. Xehanort shouldn't even be alive; he was around his twenties during the keyblade war, and even though the man he had seen in Twilight Town was old, he doubted he was anywhere near 120 years old. He opened the door to be met with a smiling Naminé. The only person who could be able to explain that man's presence.

"How was your trip, Roxas?" Her eyes were puffy, she had been crying. Roxas looked at her, worried, but she just shrugged. "It's nothing important. Believe me… What is bothering you?" she said when she noticed the thoughtful expression on the blond.

"In my trip… I saw Xehanort… I think." He watched as Naminé's face showed worry and fear. She seemed to be thinking all the possibilities for this mysterious encounter with a man she had supposed dead.

Naminé bit her lip in thought. Had that man, the real mastermind behind the misuse of the Keyblade and the manipulation of the Heartless to bring Kingdom Hearts to the physical world, really escaped his own death?

"Please explain everything, Roxas." She begged, afraid. Even if it was just a mistake, Xehanort was way too dangerous to ignore. And, to tell the truth, eluding death may not be beyond him.

Roxas told in detail everything that happened in the old mansion. Every word and movement that man made. Naminé just sighed.

"Xehanort… it's not really him. He died in the Keyblade War, and that's it. This guy is an awakened reincarnation, who has decided to continue his past life's experiments on the nature of the heart."

"But why did he tell me all those things, then?"

"You have not changed Roxas. Those words were the original Xehanort's last thoughts of you. Master Xehanort, while still dangerous, is nothing but a shaken old man with some insight into the past."

"He won't hurt Sora. Xion died, but I'll protect Sora, no matter what." He said, convinced.

"He's not a threat, Roxas, but be careful, those who dive too deeply into their past selves… may never be the same ever again." She muttered darkly.

* * *

_It was dark. Sora didn't remember how he got there, but he hated it. He tried moving around a bit, only to find his feet bound. His hands were free, however, so he tried feeling around. He finally felt something akin to a face, female, with very soft features._

"_Hey! You awake?" he said in a hushed voice. The girl made no move whatsoever. "What happened? Stay awake! Jasmine!" Was that the girl's name? He had heard it before, just couldn't put his finger on where._

"_She has already lost her heart." A voice said behind him, he turned around, but the one who said it was cloaked in shadows "Once I inform the superior of our new location, you'll be next." The voice was male, but he couldn't quite place a face on it._

_Before thinking about what to do, a door opened. The light that came out blinded everyone present, including the maroon haired man with a scythe, who he guessed was the one who talked. The newcomer had two key shaped weapons, and lunged at his captor._

_While his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness he distinguished blond spikes and blue eyes. His heart swelled with happiness when he recognized the boy._

"_Roxas!" The blond continued ti fight, but the older man had a clear advantage. He knew the territory, and was using everything withing the storage to hinder him. His body moved on its own, only knowing he had to help him. "Fire!" He said with his hand up in the air, surprised when a fireball actually appeared and hit the maroon haired man, knocking him down._

"_Are you okay?" Roxas said when he turned around. His eyes widened, filled with hurt and anger._

_Sora had felt an immense pain after throwing the fireball, but he just smiled._

"_I knew using magic would let him know where I am… but Marluxia would have killed you otherwise…" he turned around to see a pair of golden eyes looking smug, as above his head, he saw his heart going away from his body. It soon joined with something he had deemed as a shadow before. It was one of those key-weapons, with a red handle and the teeth in the form of a black heart. It was quite simple, at least compared to Roxas' own weapons, but he still felt sheer terror at it. "Roxas… I'm… sorry… I…" he could no longer talk, his eyelids feeling too heavy._

"_No! Xion!"_

* * *

"…That's… not my name… Roxas!" Sora opened his eyes and found his brother's hand about to touch his shoulder. His worried eyes turned uncaring when he noticed he was awake, and distanced himself from his bedside.

"Nightmare?" He asked, getting Griever from the desk. Sora nodded. "What was it about this time?"

"I… don't remember." He only knew it had to do with Roxas, but the rest was just a blurry mess. "Going on a date? This early in the morning?" he asked when he saw Squall putting his necklace and styling his hair a bit. The elder shrugged.

"She still has to say yes." Sora could hear the nervousness behind that cool façade.

"I like Rinoa, you know? I'd definitely want her as my sister-in-law, so don't screw it." He joked around, eager to take the attention away from his nightmare. His brother just gave a cold stare back.

"Whatever, squirt." He smirked.

"Hey! I'm still growing, jackass!" Sora smiled. After a few more insults no one took seriously, he took a shower and got ready to school. As usual, he had to take his breakfast while walking, and continued thinking about the day before. The most rational part of his mind kept telling him Roxas had just been distracted and probably didn't mean anything by kissing him. The rest of his mind (which was an overwhelming majority) wanted to believe something else.

First class was… awkward, to say the least, all the time he stared at Roxas, not even knowing whether Ansem showed up or not. The only good thing was that, while he was caught a couple of times by the blond, he also caught him looking at him. He'd have to talk to him, the sooner, the better.

Axel appeared after class and latched himself to Roxas, and Sora noticed for the first time that while he flirted with the blond, he was looking at him, as if trying to guess his reaction.

"Don't leave me alone with those two again!" the redhead bawled overdramatically "One is loud as hell, and the other plans to either kill me or flirt with me, I honestly can't tell!" He continued bitching about Demyx and Larxene, who apparently had tortured him while on Radiant Garden.

"Demyx is as loud as you, Axel. You're the perfect duo." Roxas pointed out, chuckling. "And Larxene shouldn't be so bad…"

"Don't be so naïve! She's a witch! Try to work with her in a science project and you'll see… That hamster will never be the same!" He sighed and looked at the brunet, then smiled slightly. "Roxas, have you noticed you don't have your math notebook?" The blond looked at his empty hands, cursed and excused himself, running away.

"…What is it?" Sora said, uncomfortable with Axel's stare.

"You finally decided, right?" he said with an enigmatic smile. "Do it soon, he should be getting impatient."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" he said, blushing.

"Uh-huh, sure you don't." He said sarcastically. "Do your best."

* * *

"Sora, is something wrong?" Roxas asked as they walked home. "You've been spacing off a lot."

"Not at all… Say Roxas, does Naminé expect you home right now?" He said, feeling awkward. Roxas put his hand on his chin, thinking.

"She's not used to me being late, but she'll understand." He smiled and without further ado took Sora's hand and gave 180º turn. "Where do you want to go?" He said with a shy grin that made him too adorable for Sora to resist.

"To the beach…" He muttered, embarrassed. The blond nodded and began to drag him towards Destiny Beach. What was he doing? He wasn't sure, but being alone with Roxas was the only thing in his mind. What will he do? What will he say? He didn't know, so he would just go with the flow.

The beach was almost empty (understandable, as it was a school day), so they sat near the sea, away from the few people tanning or playing in the water. Sora didn't want to look at him directly, so he settled for watching the waves slowly lick the shore and move away.

"I don't really know what's bothering you," He finally heard Roxas say. "But be sure that as long as you need it, I'll be here for you." The comment was finished with another kiss on his cheek. This was just too much for the brunet; he turned around to look directly at his friend, and in an annoyed fashion went straight to his lips. The feeling was incredible, he felt all the stress just go away. It was not a kiss per see, just his mouth over his friend's, no movement. He finally took notice their position.

"_What the hell am I doing?"_ His eyes widened at his own actions and pulled away, leaving a very confused blond breathing heavily. "Sorry." He muttered, his face bright red.

"D-Don't worry." He said with a nervous chuckle. "Why did you…?" Roxas blushed, unable to complete his question

"I… well, you see, I… I like you, okay? I don't know exactly when it happened but I do!" Sora shouted, surprising both Roxas and himself. He wasn't really sure until he said it out loud, but everything now made so much more sense. Sora looked down, embarrassed, unwilling to see Roxas' response. Now he had all the right to be nervous, in just a matter of three days, his mindset had changed from 'just a friend' to 'in love with him'. More than that, knowing he was in love wasn't enough, he wanted to be loved back, and frankly, he wasn't quite sure of Roxas' feelings.

He finally looked up, gulping hard… only to see Roxas looking at him with a sad smile. Sora had expected anything: surprise, disgust, maybe even happiness, but definitely not that. He felt Roxas' hand caress his face, and couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion… the signal he was getting was… mixed, probably. His face said no, but his hand said yes, was he just dumb?

After a long silence, Roxas said in a sad, but firm voice:

"I'm sorry."

* * *

**And that's it kiddies! (Cliffhanger after cliffhanger, you must hate me) Anyways, sorry for the delay and the shortness, I hit Author's Block and haven't completely get over it, sorry.**

_Next chapter, a bit more of insight on Roxas' mind and (gasp!) his past revealed? I don't know when it'll be up; it all depends on Light getting over her Block. Until next time!_


	8. Chapter 08: Awaken

**生まれ変わり**

**Ah… isn't it nice? Everybody hates me and/or Roxas for the latest chapter! But thank you for the most reviews I've had since chapter ****4!**

_To Innocent Uke Or NOT: Well, it's something like that, really. You were the closest to guessing what was going__ on. Congrats!_

**To Flightfoot, ****YaoiGirly and KatrinaEagle: Don't kill me DX! And don't worry, everything will be explained this chapter. Roxas has two very good reasons, I promise!**

_To chrisal:__ The mixed signal got you too, eh? Xehanort is like a bad flu, you can never know if it's over or not. Everything will be cleared out this chapter._

_Lastly, t__hanks to RoxyConan-Kun for putting this story on alert._

**Title**** is Japanese. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**0**__**8: Awaken**_

"… I like you, okay? I don't know exactly when it happened but I do!"

Roxas saw Sora's face drop in embarrassment. It was nothing else but adorable, but he couldn't help but wonder what this meant exactly. Who was the one behind that statement? Was it Sora, or Xion's leaked memories? Any of those answers made him happy, knowing Xion loved him back was all he could have asked before… but now, he wasn't so sure.

Over the past few weeks, he had grown… attached to Sora, and it was way too conflicting. He was different from Xion, loving him meant betraying the love he once felt for her, at least on his mind, yet he couldn't deny that the feelings were there. He still loved Xion dearly, making the whole issue even more troubling. Sora had become his light, his pathway to happiness, but what about Xion? Even if she was no longer alive, she had been the one to make him happy since the day they met.

On the other hand, there were Sora's own feelings. The brunet had been overflowed with Xion's memories the past few days, and if Xion had returned his love, those words could be just what essence was left of her saying it to him, just like Xehanort's reincarnation had threatened him. In that case, how long would it be until Sora's persona found love, and felt the same conflicting emotions as he did? Torn apart between his past life and the new one? He couldn't force Xion into him. Their relationship was based on the past, and if he did love him on his own…

He smiled sadly. Even if he loved him on his own, he still had to sort out his own feelings. There wasn't an easy answer that would let him know immediately. Sora looked up and the blond couldn't help but caress his face. He may hate him after this, but he wanted to be sure his feelings were all for the brunet.

Sora just tilted his head in confusion, which he found way too cute.

"I'm sorry." He told him. Sorry he wasn't sure of his feelings, sorry for bringing back memories that weren't even his, and most of all, sorry for not being able to love him back whole-heartedly.

"O-oh, I see…" He turned red (from frustration or shame, Roxas couldn't tell) and averted his gaze. "W-well, what a way to embarrass myself, right? Heh heh heh." He laughed as if nothing was wrong. "Sorry to bother you all the time… I'll be heading home!" he got up and was about to run away, when Roxas just grabbed his arm to prevent him from going.

"Wait." He said dumbly. He really couldn't bring himself to say anymore.

"Don't make fun of me!" He tried to release himself from the blond's grasp. His voice was meant to come out angry, but it just broke at the end. He felt surprised and warm when the other just pulled him into an embrace.

"I'd never make fun of you, silly. I care about you too much." Sora felt incredibly warm from hearing those words. "It's just… I'm not sure. There was someone I loved very much. She's gone, but I still love her. I really care about you, but you resemble her so much… it confuses me."

"It's okay… I get it." Sora said, trying hard to keep a smile on his face. Roxas' hug just became tighter.

"You don't have to do that, you know? If you feel sad, you can show it. Even if I can't answer you right now, what I said is the truth; I'll be with you until you no longer want me around."

Sora just nodded, actually feeling relieved when he let some tears flow.

* * *

The next day, Sora woke up with a new resolve. He'd be as different as he could from Roxas' last love. If the differences were obvious Roxas wouldn't feel confused anymore, and he could finally choose. While the decision itself filled him with sheer terror, it was definitely better than having an 'I don't know' for life.

He didn't know how that girl was, though, but that had an easy solution. If she had been so important to Roxas life, Naminé would know about her. He decided to visit her after school, not realizing what that decision truly meant.

* * *

For the first time ever, he arrived early. The brunet sat down next to Roxas, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Good morning." Roxas said with a smile. Sora just mumbled a weak 'morning' back. "Something wrong?"

"Just have a lot on my mind." He said. Roxas just nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

"Don't overdo it." He muttered tenderly, making Sora blush.

The rest of the day Roxas continued showering him with affective words, hand squeezes and kisses. So much, in fact, that he actually began to doubt he had 'rejected' him the day before. It was almost as if they were dating, with the blond always there, smiling and giving all kinds of affections. Sora guessed he was also trying to come to a decision himself, but it was obvious he was forcing himself. If he was distracted enough, he would look out the window and sigh with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

"You're trying too hard, Roxas." He said lightly after they were dismissed from their last class. "It's okay if you can't get over her just yet. I can wait."

"You noticed?"

"You could see it from space." He joked, Roxas just smiled sheepishly. As they walked towards the exit, Sora spotted certain redhead smirking by the corner, near the lockers. "Wait a sec, I forgot something." Sora ran back to where he came from.

"What's up, buddy? Enjoying the boyfriend?" Axel smirked.

"Can I ask you a favor?" He said seriously. Axel stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I need you to distract Roxas for a while. I need to talk to his sister about something and-"

"You don't have to tell me the details." The redhead laughed. "I can give you around two hours, is that enough?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Axel laughed again and made his way over to Roxas. After Sora told him it was alright for him to go skateboarding with Axel, the brunet headed off towards his friend's house.

* * *

He knocked the door impatiently. Roxas could come home any minute, but aside from that, there was a part of him that really wanted to meet Naminé. It felt as if she could explain everything that came with Roxas' single presence: the feelings, the nostalgia, everything.

After what seemed like an eternity, the blonde opened the door with a smile on her face, which disappeared as soon as she saw Sora.

"Is Roxas around?" She asked, worried. Sora just shook his head, confused as to the change on Naminé's mood. "I understand. Come in." the girl said, resigned.

When he entered the house, a lot of images came to his mind from everything. The paintings, the walls, the furniture, everything brought some 'memories' of him and a younger Roxas playing around. Naminé looked at him, worried. She took his hand and dragged him to the white room, where he breathed heavily.

"Wha-What was that?" he asked, clutching his chest. It was painful, way too painful. "Have I… have I met Roxas before?" Those memories, they were too real, they had to be some repressed memory of some sort. Naminé just held an emotionless face.

"Not entirely." She said softly. She then spoke in a lower voice, almost to herself. "The process has already begun without my interference, but continuing like this will only hurt you… I'll do it, I'll awaken you." She sighed in resignation. "Take a seat."

Sora did as he was told, and suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Actually, I came to ask you something. Did you know Roxas' last love?" He couldn't bring himself to say 'lover', and something told him she was not exactly that anyways. Naminé nodded. "How was she?"

"She was… a lot like you." She said, pained. The girl stood up and began organizing some drawing sheets. Sora felt some kind of anxiety over the action.

"In which way? I have to be as different as possible!" he complained. Naminé just smiled.

"In a way you can't change, Sora." She passed him the drawings she had been shuffling. "Look at these pictures, and tell me what you see. You'll understand everything once you do."

The brunet nodded and picked up the first drawing. Part of him thought she had gone crazy, while another just told him to shut up and do as he was told. The drawing didn't seem that incredible (a bit childish, in his opinion), but once he focused on a black haired girl the picture started feeling more real, almost as if it was moving. He gulped.

"There's a… girl. She was born with supposedly all she could ever want, being the heiress of an immense fortune, but she was alone, without anyone who liked her." He was not describing the drawing; it was more along the lines of telling a story, an anecdote. He turned to the next picture. "She was given a servant, a blond boy who was way too shy for his own good. She befriended him, and he became her whole world."

"The girl fell in love with the servant." Naminé stated. Sora just nodded. He felt as if he knew the story quite well.

"But she didn't want him to know. He was way too nice and would have been with her without being sure whether he loved her as much as she did." The images began to look more like a first person perspective, and Sora felt memories coming back to him. "One day a man came, and struck fear in the girl's heart. He had long white hair, and his eyes distilled darkness. From that day on, that man always lured her nightmares, even though she didn't know of him for almost two years.

"The servant, who had sworn allegiance to the girl, was always beside her, and she felt relieved to have him so close. The love grew, to such extents she couldn't keep it anymore. But the day she decided to tell him, she was captured by that man." Sora wiped his eyes. He felt the urge to cry at the somewhat unknown outcome. He knew it wouldn't end nicely

"She didn't know," Naminé said quietly. "But the boy chased her, following all the clues that could lead to her. He finally found her on nobody's land, where a war was brewing."

"The girl felt like she was the object of a treasure hunt, being taken from place to place by the two sides of the conflict. She made friends, girls like her, who were being held and kidnapped from place to place. They told her about that man's desire: To possess incredible power by something called… uh…" he had trouble remembering that part, if you can call what he was doing as remembering.

"Kingdom Hearts." Naminé spoke the name with a lot of respect.

"Yes. For that reason, he needed to sacrifice the seven of them. After the other six had given away their hearts the girl was captured again. A man with pink hair, the second in command, retrieved her from their enemy's base and hid her. She was put in a dark room, where the servant found her."

"He fought bravely, Sora." Naminé soothed him. "But he was too late, the girl lost her heart, and Kingdom Hearts appeared." Sora nodded. The story ended for him, he couldn't gather anything that happened after that.

"What happened then?" He couldn't help but ask.

"The servant, blinded by rage, heard Kingdom Hearts proposition to grant the last person standing a wish, and fought every single being in the field. He ended up being the last standing; his last opponent was the white haired man. His wish was to be with his mistress again."

"She didn't like it when he called her mistress." He told her, instinctively. Naminé nodded.

"Kingdom Hearts first made him seal off the keyblades. That way the tragedy wouldn't repeat, and proceeded to put him in a deep sleep, for the purpose of waiting for the girl to be born again." Sora gulped in anticipation.

"Did she?" Naminé showed him a last drawing, the blond holding hands with a brunet.

"She took more than expected, deciding to haunt her old mansion, waiting for him. However, she finally was reborn, in the form of a boy, and a new friendship formed from that meeting once the servant woke up." The blonde told him. "In spite of that, the wish wouldn't be fulfilled completely. The closest thing Kingdom Hearts could give was awakening the boy to his past life, so that, in a way, her essence could be with him again."

Sora was speechless. This wasn't true! It had to be some kind of make-believe story! He… he just couldn't be-

"The servant's name is Roxas." Naminé continued, unaware of the boy's inner turmoil. "And the girl's name was-"

"Xion." Sora said alongside another voice. He turned around to see Roxas' blank face.

* * *

**Thank you! Your reviews and alerts actually helped me out of my Block! What did I learn? The**** best way to get over an author's block is writing another story! (Which by the way, I may or may not post. Not sure yet :P)**

_Next chapter: Sora's reaction to the reveal! Again, not sure about the date, we gots the tests!_


	9. Chapter 09: Go away

_**Đầu thai**_

**To chrisal: ****Well, Naminé had to, she was created precisely to awaken Sora, and now Roxas will pay the price of badly worded wishes! Hope you like this one.**

_To __Innocent Uke Or NOT: The answers to all that in this chapter (except the banana question XP) Enjoy!_

_Thanks to Zero1606, Jcthegirl and Love Psycho for their alerts/favorites_

**Title is ****Vietnamese. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**09: Go away**_

The brunet felt lightheaded all of a sudden, He managed to see Naminé's eyes shine with wonder and worry. He felt himself pass out a million times before darkness actually overtook him.

Roxas caught the falling boy and looked at Naminé, angry. The blonde just looked down, ashamed.

"Why? He didn't have to be Xion, he was fine being Sora." He asked with a sigh.

"Your wish." She said simply. "Your wish to Kingdom Hearts could not be fully accomplished, but it couldn't be changed, either. It wasn't by choice, he needed to awaken, or else being around you would have destroyed him."

"What?"

"People are supposed to awaken to their past lives in the safety of their dreams. Doing so while awake can destroy a personality, unless it is done by someone created to bring out old memories" she pointed at herself. "I didn't want to awaken him, because it would only bring pain, but…"

"You disobeyed Kingdom Hearts, and had to awaken him once it forced him to do it by himself." Roxas said, looking at the girl's downcast eyes. She nodded, and he turned to look at Sora. What memory was he reliving in his dreams? He hoped it wasn't an unpleasant one. The brunet just sighed and hugged himself to Roxas, muttering something. "It doesn't matter, you had no choice… and after all, he's still Sora." He whispered as he looked at the very Sora smile on his face.

"We better get him to the guest room. He needs to rest for a bit." Naminé advised. Roxas nodded and carried Sora bridal-style to the next room. He tried to place him on the bed, but the boy refused to let go of his neck.

"Sora, let me go and get some sleep" he whispered, but the boy just held on tighter. "Sora…"

"I'm sorry. I just don't think I'll ever hold you again." He said in a higher pitched voice than usual. His eyes continued closed, but he seemed quite aware of his surroundings. "I really missed you, Roxas."

"Xion?" He asked, completely shocked. "How did you—? Why are you—?"

"I'm sorry." The boy repeated. "It's only for a while, the part of Sora that is still me wanted to… talk to you." Her shy smile appeared on his features, and Roxas breath hitched.

"I couldn't do anything to save you. I'm sorry." He felt tears prickle in his eyes, but he held them back. "I couldn't even tell you—"

"I love you, Roxas." Xion said, voicing both his thoughts and her own, voice sounding weaker, somehow. "Never forget, that's the truth. What happened wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself. In the end, I'm happy to have seen you one last time."

"I… love you too." He said, choking back a sob. The smile reappeared.

"I'm happy to hear that. It was nice… being with you." Her voice was slowly becoming a sleeping mutter, and Roxas knew he wouldn't hear her again. It was a good bye, and he hugged Sora's body to his, kissing him. Xion kissed back slowly, she didn't have the energy to stay much longer. "Good bye, Roxas, it was fun. I'll treasure our memories, forever." The voice finally stopped, and the brunet let go of his neck. Roxas placed him on the bed carefully.

"Good bye, Xion." After muttering those words, he allowed himself to cry.

* * *

Sora woke up, startled. He remembered everything, all the little things that could be considered insignificant, but actually were an important part of life. He remembered the laughs, the tears, and the oh-so-clichéd sped up heartbeat. Problem was it wasn't his. He now remembered a life that was not his own, and actually had trouble believing he was Sora, and not Xion.

He noticed the bed he was in to be less comfortable than his own, and the colors of the wall were different. Had 'Sora' been a dream? Was he Xion? The layout certainly reminded him of the mansion, and when he turned to her left, he spotted Roxas looking at him, worried, just like old times.

"You're awake!" He practically jumped at the sound of his voice. Too loud, too relieved. "Are you alright, Sora?"

"What… happened?" He rubbed sleep off his eyes. So Sora was real, and he was Sora. That meant there was no 'Xion' anymore. That thought hurt him, as he felt Xion was too close to him now that he had 'met' her. She couldn't have disappeared like that.

"You passed out after…" Roxas struggled to find some words, but found it too awkward to talk about what happened mere hours ago.

"I see." Sora sighed and looked at the clock. 7:30, his parents were most probably freaked out by now (he didn't put it beyond his father to organize a search team by this point). "I need to get home" He muttered.

"I'll walk you there." Roxas said immediately.

"You don't have to." _'I'm not her.'_ He added silently.

"I want to." The blond pressed. Sora simply nodded, giving up. He took Roxas' outstretched hand and got up, making sure to let go once he was up, feeling remorse instantly.

The walk was quiet, and with every step he felt a really strong desire to touch him, have contact with him in some way.

Home came to view too suddenly, and he sighed helplessly. Roxas turned and looked at him with _that_ expression. He looked deep in thought, yet concentrating only on him. It was Xion's second favorite, only bested by his smiling face. He shook his head and said goodbye hastily.

"I meant what I said." He said quietly. Sora didn't turn back, but listened closely. "I care about Sora as much as I care about Xion." Sora heard the blond walking towards his house as confusion filled him to the brim. He sighed and opened the door. Some voices could be heard from the living room.

"…decided, then. Kiros will go to the west, Ward, east, Squall, go south, and I'll go north. Any clues that may lead to his location will be reported to m—"

"I'm home." Sora said stifling a small giggle at his father's astonished gasp. He knew the drill, Squall smirking at him, Kiros laughing a lot. He could practically picture his father pouting like a child at his foiled attempt to be 'cool', and went upstairs to his room. His door, however, was barricaded by his mother, who held a stern look.

"And where have you been, young man?" she inquired. Sora gave a stiff laugh.

"I… kinda fell asleep in a friend's house. Sorry." He looked down. His mother's eyes softened and she hugged him tenderly.

"It's okay. Just call next time." She smiled and moved away, ruffling his hair a little. "I hope you get everything worked out."

"How did you…?" His mother just winked and went downstairs, telling him casually she'll bring him dinner to his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, and concentrated as much as he could.

What exactly did he feel about Roxas? The day before it had been so obvious: He liked him, and wanted to be with him. Simple, short and sweet, and he was sure he still felt attraction towards the blond, but did it go as deep as he thought?

Xion and he were deeply connected, and now that he knew it he wasn't sure where his feelings began and Xion's ended. Also, he felt that being with Roxas was a betrayal to a part of him. Xion loved Roxas, he wasn't sure if it went any deeper than 'liking', it would be egoistical in some way to snatch him away from her. Even if she wasn't there anymore, he felt bad about her never being able to convey her feelings.

"It's too difficult… Why can't I think straight if it's about him?" He sighed and saw it was past midnight. He changed to his pajamas and went to sleep. "Xion… would you be mad if I were to be with him?" He asked without expecting an answer. He rolled around and closed his eyes.

* * *

Sora had been avoiding him.

Roxas sighed in annoyance as Axel continued babbling nonsense along Demyx while Larxene just glared at both of them. The two had decided Axel would be their new friend almost like the redhead himself had done with him. Roxas knew he should be laughing when the blonde tapped Axel's shoulder, making him yelp in a high pitched voice, but he didn't have the energy.

Across the cafeteria, Sora was eating in complete silence, even his friends had stopped their mushiness to look at him in worry. Roxas looked at him longingly. The brunet hadn't talked to him since the day before. He had changed seats with Kairi that day in history, supposedly because he needed better notes about life in the last century, but he knew he just didn't want to see him.

He wouldn't lie, he had expected that reaction, and it hurt even worse now that it was actually happening. Sora was most probably afraid of losing himself in memories, memories which he brought back without noticing. To him, Roxas was a memory, someone that shouldn't exist, and that made him feel an alien pain (at least, Roxas saw it that way).

The bell rang and he headed towards his next class.

In English, he was lucky, as Xaldin had forbidden Sora to change seats, and was now in front of him. He refused to look at him, though, but it was nice seeing him so close. He missed him so much after just 16 hours, it was worrying. When class ended Sora got up and casually left a note on his desk. He opened it hastily, almost desperate to see something of him again.

_Meet me at the gates after school._

That… couldn't be good. The writing was neat, too neat for Sora. He idly wondered if he had been working on it the whole class. It certainly looked as if it was meant to be read before class ended (it was the last class), and had to chuckle when he pictured a blushing brunet trying to compose a longer message.

When he reached the gates, Sora was already waiting for him. It was weird, they usually left the classroom together, but the situation was awkward enough already.

"Sora, Are you mad at me?" He knew the brunet had all the right to hate him, but he couldn't bring himself to word it.

"I'm sorry, but I needed some time to think this through." He said in a raspy voice. Roxas nodded, understanding.

"It's okay." He tried to touch Sora, but the brunet moved away. He looked about to cry.

"Don't do that! Being with you confuses me to no end! Is Xion talking? Is it me? I don't know anymore! I'm not sure what** I** feel!" His voice turned more and more desperate. His eyes looked glassy thanks to the tears. "I can't stand seeing you! I want to stay away and be with you at the same time, it isn't normal! And it's only with YOU I feel this way!"

"Sora, I—"

"There's a part of me that just want you to go away! That way I can finally think straight!" He continued intent on letting out all his feelings. Roxas eyes were full of hurt, and Sora tried breathing slowly to calm down. "I just… don't know anymore." He whispered.

"I understand." Roxas smiled slightly, even though his eyes still showed pain. "Then I guess you'd rather go home alone today. It's okay, I have something to do right now." He turned back and entered school grounds again. As soon as he was out of sight, Sora forced himself to walk, every part of his body telling him to wait for the blond.

* * *

When Sora went to school the next day, he wanted to avoid looking at Roxas as much as he could. It ended up being quite simple, because the seat beside his had been empty in every class he shared with the blond.

Once lunch arrived, he saw a brooding Axel talking to a cheery-as-always Demyx. He decided to go there and ask him what was wrong. He couldn't help but have a horrible feeling in the gutter.

"What's wrong?" He asked him. The redhead just looked at him and sighed.

"He was such a good friend. Now it'll be so difficult to spend some time with him." The redhead said in a sad voice. Sora gulped audibly.

"What do you mean?" Axel looked at him, surprised.

"You mean you don't know? Roxas got transferred to some private school. Just yesterday… and he couldn't have told his damn best friend sooner!"

The words the blond said instantly flashed to his mind _"__I'll be with you until you no longer want me around."_

He was an idiot. Roxas had gone away because of him. In his confusion, he had said things that had hurt Roxas, and now he wouldn't see him anymore. He felt his heart clutch in pain. It was its way of berating him for being so stupid. But now that reason was heard once more, it became clear that, to sort out his feelings, it was better to be without Roxas for a while.

* * *

**I don't like how this chapter turned out (too fast paced, I don't think I'll get many reviews DX). And of course, bring on the hate for keeping them apart once again! ****Anyways, all the characters that compose Sora's family and family friends come from FF8, because I just love that game.**

_Next chapter, __Sora will come to a decision about his feelings. It's actually a bit shorter than usual, so on Friday we'll release what will be the second to last chapter! See you then!_


	10. Chapter 10: Realization

**_Réincarnation_**

**To Innocent Uke Or NOT: I wasn't sure at first about Xion's part last chapter, but I realized that Roxas needed to say goodbye and let go of her. Thank goodness it wasn't bad.**** About Sora's feelings… this chapter says it all, really. I met my deadline! You can't hurt me now! *takes cover***

_To Anna Shiki: __Glad to know you still read this! It's not all Roxas' fault; Sora just lost it thanks to confusion. The torture isn't over just yet, (for either of them) but Sora will work it out. He's Sora, after all!_

**To chrisal: Well, Sora ****believes his confusion is because of Xion. But let's see what happens. Thank you :3**

_T__hanks to __StickeyriceZ for putting this story in favorites _

**Title is ****French. We don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**10**__**: Realization**_

The sun shone brightly that morning. Sora stretched to remain awake. He looked at the door to see his mother looking at him funny.

"What is it?" He asked a bit irked. Raine just giggled.

"When you sleep you look as cute as the day you were born." She smiled at her son, who was covering himself in embarrassment. "Did you forget that Ellone comes back from college today?" Sora's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten.

He couldn't be blamed, though. Since Roxas went away almost a month ago, he hardly noticed anything outside of his now defined (some would say _too_ defined) routine. Wake up, get ready, go to school, talk for about ten minutes with his friends, look at Axel's expression to see if he had met Roxas and go home. It had become so bad he had forgotten Kairi's birthday, Tidus's 'big game' and now Ellone being home.

Before, his older sister coming home was something he and Squall always looked forward to. He specially enjoyed seeing his usually aloof older brother becoming a bundle of smiles and childishness (which he always teased), but now, it seemed like he couldn't really feel happy about anything.

Roxas was the center of everything. He didn't feel ready to see him again, but his heart was practically brawling with his sense of reason to make him ready. He really wanted to see him, but Xion's emotions were still there, and he knew meeting the blond would just intensify those feelings. Routine helped ease all that, monotony tended to dull everything else.

"We won't be home until late. Her flight arrives at 8:00." His mother continued, pulling him out of his daze. "So go out with your friends, have fun. You're becoming a shut-in at such a young age!" she put her hands on her hips and gave a dramatic sigh.

"I'm fine, mom." He argued. "I'm just… melancholic, I guess." He said simply and entered the bathroom as quickly as he could. He loved his mother dearly, but her questioning methods were way too effective when she wanted.

He got ready and went to school, his mind drifting to that familiar blond hair and smile. He really couldn't help it. Thinking about Roxas was the only reason he was still (somewhat) sane. He still paid attention to class, of course, but he just couldn't bring his mind to focus 100% in it.

When he took notice of his surroundings once more, he was walking towards Chemistry. Vexen was not that bad, but on classes that didn't include labs his voice quickly turned into white noise. You were lucky if by the end of the class you were completely awake. Sora didn't even last fifteen minutes before falling sleep.

_An empty room__, except for two mirrors: One wooden and the other silver. Even though the silver mirror looked newer and cleaner, the wooden one was well kept, exotic, and beautiful. They both had a figure on top, an otter on the wooden, and a dolphin above the silver._

_Sora stayed completely still, somewhat afraid of them. It wasn't the first time he saw this dream, and even though he could move, the only thing there were the mirrors, which he had no interest in seeing. He felt those mirrors were dangerous, and so this dream was always the same: He sitting down about six feet away from them, waiting for the moment to wake up._

"I guess that's all." Sora lifted his head when the bell rang. Vexen looked really disappointed at his missed chance to talk even more. "Tomorrow, we'll be experimenting with acids, so bring your lab equipment." Sora left the classroom and headed towards lunch, mulling over the dream.

At first it was no biggie, just a weird dream he had. But lately, he couldn't sleep without seeing it, and he always remembered when he had it.

Riku and Kairi sat down beside him and began their usual routine of 'cheering him up'. He didn't get it. He wasn't as cheery as usual, that's all… for a complete month… Yeah, he could see where this was going. He decided to avoid all this by talking about his dream to them. The looked genuinely interested in it, but maybe they were amazed that he could still talk like he cared about something.

"Maybe your dream is trying to tell you something, but you haven't seen it. It's still trying to get to you." Kairi suggested. Riku nodded.

"So stop being a lazy ass and move in that dream." Riku said. "I'm sure it's just trying to tell you that you look horrible." He teased, but Sora didn't respond.

"I'm scared. I don't know why, but I think I won't like whatever I see in there." He murmured. Kairi smiled at him in understanding.

"Whatever it is, you must confront it. After all, you're never alone." The redhead smiled. Sora couldn't help but to smile back.

"Thank you."

* * *

_The mirrors appeared once again. Sora sighed, ready to look at them. He had fallen asleep in Xaldin's class, and he'd be in trouble if he was caught. Luckily, Kairi said she would do everything to stop the teacher from seeing him. He took three steps towards the two mirrors before cowering a bit._

_He breathed heavily and practically jumped the remaining distance. Neither mirror had a crystal on it. He looked curiously at the metallic one, touching the surface. He was surprised when a crystal began forming under his touch, and he saw himself appearing hastily on the reflection. He blinked slowly and realized he was looking at himself from within the mirror, not the other way around._

'_Sora' smiled sweetly at him before turning back and touching the wooden surface of the other mirror. The crystal appeared quickly while 'Sora' disappeared. The reflection, however, wasn't the brunet, but a short, black haired girl with sapphire eyes._

"_I really wanted to meet you." The girl smiled. "What's your name?"_

"…_Sora." He said, confused. The girl's eyes twinkled with happiness and he felt like an idiot for not noticing earlier. "You're Xion, aren't you?" The girl just giggled and nodded._

"_I've been trying to contact you since that night." Sora tilted his head in confusion. What night was she talking about? Xion smiled and recited in an eerily accurate imitation of his voice. "Xion… would you be mad if I were to be with him_?_" The brunet gaped when he realized what the girl was talking about. He stumbled upon his own words before blabbering._

"_I… I didn't mean it! I didn't know you'd take that question seriously! I'm really not—" He stopped talking when Xion laughed softly._

"_You're cute. That must be why Roxas likes you so much." Sora blushed in embarrassment. "You know, I always thought we were just friends until I was thirteen. After I saw him protect me, I couldn't think of him as that anymore. Without noticing, I had fallen in love with my childhood friend. I felt so confused." She seemed to be talking to herself, but her gaze was on Sora._

"_Why are you telling me this?" he asked, completely lost._

"_Because I need you to know. Confusion is part of love as much as affection. I must ask you: Do you love Roxas? Do you feel like I did all those years ago?" She asked, completely serious. Sora scratched the back of his head._

"_I don't know. I like him, but it could be you unconsciously messing with my head or something like that." Xion looked at him with wide eyes, before bursting out laughing. "What is so funny?" He crossed his arms._

"_You… You thought _I_ was controlling your feelings?" She asked between laughs. Sora nodded dumbfounded. "I can't do such a thing, Sora! I'm only a memory. I let you remember my life. I have no power over your feelings." She calmed down, breathing slowly._

"_B-but! That makes no sense! Then why would I have such conflicting emotions? Why do I want Roxas away and as close as possible at the same time?" He demanded from the girl. She just looked at him._

"_That is not me… It's all you." She said, and everything made sense._

_He loved Roxas. But he couldn't bring himself to be with him once he knew of Xion. Roxas reciprocated her love, so Sora didn't think he had a chance. To avoid the pain, he blamed all his feelings on Xion, and wanted him away so he couldn't realize anything. But if his heart couldn't bear rejection, it despaired without the blond. This confused feelings, were all because of love._

"_I love him. I love him so much it hurts." He said more to himself than to the girl as he clutched his chest. Xion smiled._

"_Then it's okay, for you to be with him." Sora looked up, to see a sincere smile on her lips. "I can't be with him anymore. If there's anyone that will make him happy, I'll pray for his feelings to reach that person. He loves you Sora, and if you love him back, I'll be happy if you're with him."_

_Sora wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth. A ringing sound was heard. Just when it began, the mirrors began to melt, as if the crystal was made of ice._

"_Time's over. I need to go back to sleep." She smiled as her eyes began falling, almost drowsily._

"_Thank you. For everything." Sora managed to say, Xion smiled once again._

"_Anytime… Sora."_

* * *

He heard a ringing noise in his ears before waking up. Class was over. He looked over to Kairi and smiled at her. The brunet held an apologetic look on his face as he got up and ran away. He had to see Roxas, no matter what.

Luck seemed to be on his side, as he bumped with Axel in his mad dash. The redhead looked at him quizzically, but just shrugged.

"Do you know where Roxas' new school is?" He asked between long breaths. Axel smirked, but shook his head. Sora felt the whole world slowly disintegrate.

"Sorry. But don't worry. He still lives in the same place. If you run, you might be able to catch him before he arrives." Axel winked. The brunet smiled like he hadn't in weeks, thanked him and was off as soon as the redhead moved away. "Be safe!" He chuckled at the boy's seemingly recovered cheerfulness.

* * *

Sora ran like never before, focused solely on reaching the blond's house. It didn't matter if Xion was telling the truth or not about Roxas' feelings, he needed to be with him. Even if it was just as friends, having him around was the best thing ever.

He arrived at his destiny in less than fifteen minutes. He looked around and saw no sign of Roxas. He sighed and sat on the side of the road. As time passed by he became increasingly more nervous. What would he say? How would Roxas respond? Without noticing, he had moved so he was hiding in the alley besides his house. He couldn't help but feel like a stalker waiting for his target, and maybe he was.

Minutes looked like hours as anxiety grew; the fluttering feeling in his chest and stomach. This wasn't good. He was becoming a mess already! He seriously hoped for everything to go naturally once Roxas arrived. He looked at the opposite side of the road and after fourteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds (not that he counted) he could finally tell apart some blond spikes. His heartbeat rose. From nervousness or love, he couldn't tell. He was about to stand up and go over to him when he saw it.

A black haired boy with a mischievous look on his face appeared from nowhere and hugged Roxas' neck from behind.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! The last one, I promise (just because the next one is the last chapter XP). If you love, hate, find some inconsistencies or just want to give a critique please review or tell me in a PM. I'm so excited about my first (almost) completed project! **

_Next time: Roxas POV for that last scene, and the ending.__ It will be up during the next weekend. See you soon!_


	11. Chapter 11: Being with you

**_Reenkarniĝo_**

**To Innocent Uke Or NOT: ****Well, I like Vanitas, so he needed an obligatory cameo XD Why are you so intent on threatening me? I hope you like the last chapter!**

_To chrisal: __Light is, probably, the biggest Xion fangirl out there, so she tried to make her as in character as possible (she IS sweet in canon, but only gets to show it around Roxas and Axel). The guy is actually Vanitas. We didn't mean to make it confusing :D We'll miss this story too… The only thing left is to bug Light into making another one!_

**To HybridNox: Thank you! I hope you like how this will end!**

_To Anna Shiki:__ It's Vanitas, we really didn't think it was that mysterious ;) Thank you for reading!_

_T__hanks to __DeadxColor, for putting this story in favorites, and thanks to all of you who have read this until now, we really appreciate it._

**The t****itle is Esperanto. As always, we don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_**1**__**1: Being with you**_

Roxas walked home from his new school, completely lost to the world. He had realized a week ago that if he took notice of his surroundings while walking home, he would die of heat exhaustion thanks to the uniform. The dark blue tie was incredibly uncomfortable and the white shirt left his arms almost immobile.

He continued complaining in his mind, intent on keeping it busy. He had surprised himself a couple of times thinking about Sora, and he knew that if it continued, he would go see him despite the brunet's wishes.

He sighed. Sora didn't want him around. The sole thought hurt immensely, and destroyed any good energy inside of him. It had been twenty seven days without seeing him, and it already drove him insane. His new school was alright, he guessed, but it just wasn't the same without the goofy brunet smiling beside him.

He felt an extra weight on his back suddenly, and a mocking voice in his ear.

"Gotcha!" The newcomer said with a smile as he put his arms around his neck to secure his position. "Did you honestly think you could run away from me, Strife?" He snickered, golden eyes twinkling.

Roxas just turned around with a blank stare directed at Vanitas.

"You got the wrong one."

"Damn!" He moved away almost instantly at hearing him, his arms resting behind his head. "I thought I had him. I had him targeted since the fountain! How did he escape?" The boy glared at the floor. "It's all your fault." He complained like a child.

Roxas rolled his eyes. Of course Ventus would take their resemblance to his advantage. He feared Vanitas and ran away from just the sight of him.

Roxas allowed a small smile. When he first arrived at his new school, he had been intrigued by Ven. The boy was an exact copy of him, and made friends with practically every being alive. He felt protective of the boy, and helped him escape from Vanitas at every chance. According to Naminé, that protectiveness came from Ventus' ancestor, a soldier named Cloud.

Roxas was glad his little brother had grown up and been able to raise a family. Ven and his friends (two older classmates named Terra and Aqua) had been with him and tried to cheer him up. He was grateful for that, but nothing could take Sora's place. Smiling had become increasingly more difficult without the brunet, but he forced himself to avoid worrying everyone around him.

Vanitas continued cursing under his breath. Roxas just looked at him in interest. He terrorized poor Ven with childish pranks and name-calling, when he could actually do some actual damage to the teen. It was obvious he was just an immature jerk in love.

"As much as I enjoy your muttering, I have to get home." He sighed when the other continued glaring and complaining, not paying him any mind. "Take care." He crossed the street and left him in the sidewalk.

All expression banished from his face. He felt empty. He missed his Sora. Just as he thought this, he saw brown spikes around the corner. He blinked twice. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him now. The brown thing was still there. It moved a bit to allow a blue eye to peek in his general direction. It widened when caught, but stayed in place.

"… Sora?" He asked, praying to be right. The brunet came out of his hiding place, a sheepish smile on his face.

"H-Hi, Roxas! H-How's it going?" He tried acting suave and collected, but the red splashed across his cheeks revealed his awkwardness. Roxas smiled lightly, deciding to humor him.

"It's been hell." He said nonchalantly, trying his best to hide a huge grin. "I've been bored out of my mind, too." The brunet laughed awkwardly and averted his gaze.

"I see… any reason for that?" He wanted to keep up the act. Roxas smirked and fetched his keys from his pocket.

"Many. Do you want to come in? We'll can catch up." He saw Sora nod, fidgeting like crazy. Roxas opened the door and moved away, letting him enter first. "The living room is by that door. I'll go get something to drink." Roxas went through the kitchen door and got whatever Naminé had decided to stuff the fridge with.

When he got back he found Sora staring longingly at everything. Roxas cursed when he remembered his house was a replica of the mansion. The other was probably remembering things, and would go away again when he came back to the present.

"I'm sorry." He said in a low voice when he was beside him. Sora turned to face him and smiled.

"I thought I was the one supposed to say that." He put a hand over his chest. "This place… makes me feel so happy. Just like old times, being in here, with you, playing around like nothing was wrong."

"Sora…"

"I know it wasn't really me, but I'll always treasure a memory with you." He was blushing madly, but continued to look at him intensely.

"I thought you hated me." The blond said sincerely. "I gave you painful memories. I almost made you a Xion replica." He looked down in shame.

"You didn't mean to." Sora grinned. "And I always enjoyed spending time together with you, even with all the déjà vu." He took the soda from him and sat down in the couch.

"I've missed you. A lot, actually," Roxas said and rejoiced in Sora's awkward expression. "There was not a moment without you in my thoughts. Above all, I wanted to see you again." He fake-coughed, it was really weird saying all this to a guy. He was not saying it to Xion, but to Sora. Only Sora.

"Have you made any friends in your new school?" Sora averted his gaze and changed topics. He was still nervous. Confessing was one thing, but having Roxas say those things back really disrupted him.

"I guess." Roxas sighed and sat down beside him. "There's this kid I help all the time. He doesn't know how to stand for himself against someone in our class."

"Is he the black haired boy I saw you with earlier?" Sora couldn't help but ask.

"Actually, he's the one that torments him." Roxas chuckled. "But that's not important." He turned to look at him, making the brunet fidget.

"What do you mean?" Sora tried looking away, but found his eyes frozen and staring into Roxas'.

"There's something you want to tell me, right? I can see it in your eyes." Roxas gave a playful grin and saw Sora fidgeting unconsciously. "If you came all the way here it must be serious."

"Please come back to school." Sora heard himself say. He had said it without thinking. "I… I've missed you too. And Axel is not as annoying as always."

"Is that all?" Roxas said with a serious face.

Sora panicked. Usually, after that came an 'I'll think about it. Good bye'. And he didn't want to be without the blond anymore. It was torture. He shook his head and tried to come up with some kind of excuse to prolong his stay and gather some courage for the actual confession.

A small voice in his head argued that actions spoke louder than words. Before he could mull over what he could do, he was already kissing Roxas.

The blond looked shocked. Embarrassed, Sora was about to pull away when a hand found his way to the back of his head, pushing him further into Roxas, who had begun to kiss back.

Sora was too nervous to fully enjoy the kiss, and was kind of startled when Roxas other hand rested on his lower back. His mind was on overdrive. What should he do with his hands? Why couldn't he close his eyes, and needed to watch Roxas face? All this questions came to a halt when Roxas' tongue shyly licked his lower lip, almost uncertainly.

Sora's brain short-circuited before giving a 'to hell with it'. Sora opened his mouth and let his tongue meet Roxas' midway. It was more of a dance than a fight, and Sora sighed in contentment, instinctively hugging Roxas' neck.

The kiss then escalated into a full make out session. Roxas' hands were more active than Sora's, touching all over and lingering over any place that made Sora sigh or moan into the other's mouth. Both boys separated when they heard the door open and an even-voiced 'I'm home.'

Roxas was panting heavily and gave a breathless 'Welcome home' to Naminé. He turned to Sora and grinned. The boy blushed and gave a long breath.

"Roxas, I…" He gulped audibly. Naminé entered before he had any chance to talk again and gave a knowing smile at the two.

"I didn't know we had company." She smiled. "Do you want to stay for dinner, Sora?" The boy nodded. Naminé's smile widened and she went into the kitchen.

After she disappeared, no one talked. It was a quite awkward silence. Roxas coughed, and Sora turned expectantly, waiting for him to say something.

"W-what were you saying, Sora?" He stuttered nervously. Sora smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

"I… just wanted you to know that… what happened a while ago… uh…" He could do it, he definitely could do it. "I did it because… I realized something while you were away." He mentally kicked himself for beating around the bush so much.

Roxas however, seemed not to mind. He just sat straight and scooted closer to the brunet, giving a sweet smile that made him weak in the knees.

"I would like to know what it is." That smile, God! He couldn't focus when those eyes were shining with such happiness. They were just mesmerizing. He shook his head vigorously and gave a final breath.

"I… I love you." He felt silly just saying it. But seeing Roxas smile turn into a full on grin made him all bubbly inside. Maybe he should have said it sooner.

"I love you too." He said with a slight pink tint on his face. "Being with you makes me happier than ever." He gave Sora a soft kiss on the lips.

"Will you come back?" He asked, somewhat dazzled. Roxas shook his head, making him come back to Earth. "Why?"

"I can't, at least for now. I need to finish at least this school year or I'll be held back when I come back." He smiled apologetically. "That would mean seeing you so little…"

"It's okay, I guess." He muttered. Roxas studied him for a minute before grinning.

"Be mine."

"What?" Sora's head shot up, eyes wide.

"Belong to me, and I'll belong to you. We'll always be together, even if apart." His eyes begged him to accept. The brunet couldn't shake off the eerie resemblance to a marriage. The words 'too soon' appeared on his mind for about a minute, before being replaced with happiness at the thought of Roxas being his.

"Together, always." He grinned too before kissing Roxas once more.

* * *

**Ugh, I can't believe I actually wrote something so cheesy. Anyways, thanks for reading so far, I hope you have enjoyed it****! I left myself completely exhausted, I need a nap.**

_Thank you for reading! We had a lot of fun writing this, and hits, reviews, and alerts/favorites kept us going!__ Until next time, folks._


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